PHI Contemporary, Montreal, QC, Canada

PHI Contemporary is a multidisciplinary contemporary arts hub that will integrate three historic buildings in Montreal’s signature historic district with new infrastructure. The new space will serve as an institution devoted to the continuous exploration of contemporary art and culture. Designed as an infrastructure rather than a conventional building, the ensemble will embody a strong public character, featuring a multilayered landscape of interconnected rooms and spaces and a publicly accessible roofscape. At its heart will be a central public forum—a space for the public to engage with PHI’s multi-dimensional presentation of art, discourse and creative practices.

In 2021, PHI launched an International Architecture Competition for the design of PHI Contemporary. Transsolar was part of the winning design, led by architect firms Kuehn Malvezzi and Pelletier de Fontenay. Together with the design team, Transsolar established the appropriate climate conditions for each key part of the building based on programmatic needs. The central public forum offers a "mid-door" experience—an intermediary space between indoors and outdoors—providing a tempered transition between the extremes of Montreal’s climate, from very cold winters to warm and humid summer days. This space is tempered by radiant floors. To preserve the existing historical exterior walls, interior hemp insulation is applied as a low embodied carbon material. This breathable wall system helps regulate temperature and humidity peaks naturally, supporting the overall mechanical strategy not only for conditioning but also for ventilation and dehumidification. When outdoor conditions are favorable, the public forum opens via a series of folding doors, seamlessly connecting the main street with the internal public courtyard. Most new Class A art galleries are located underground to minimize energy losses in winter, except for those in the above-ground mass timber addition. This volume is highly insulated and predominantly opaque, featuring a toothed roof with north-facing high-performance skylights that provide diffuse daylight to the galleries below. The remaining program space is dedicated to administrative functions and will be renovated with high-performance operable windows, allowing for extended periods of natural ventilation when outdoor conditions permit.

The building is fully electric, powered by a water-to-water heat pump coupled with an extensive network of geothermal boreholes. Heating and cooling are delivered through a VRF system with fan coil units as terminals except in the forum, ensuring cost-effectiveness and ease of operation – key priorities set by the mechanical team and ownership group. To reduce the embodied carbon associated with conventional VRF systems, the team will transition away from R-410A refrigerant, opting for alternatives with the lowest possible global warming potential (GWP) available on the market. A dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) with high-efficiency heat recovery will supply fresh air, a crucial feature for maintaining energy efficiency during Montreal’s harsh winters.