Art & Architecture

Like many stations along the 1980s extensions, Côte-Sainte-Catherine is an attractive, modern, and functional space. It is centered on a large volume, opening on all levels, through which passengers can see their entire path from the upper walkway to the trains, or from the platforms to the exit.

The main volume, which rises over the ticket hall, is triangular in section, following the slope of the line of the escalators at the northern end of the hall. A walkway runs along the upper ridge of the volume from the head of these escalators to the exit, with views down onto the ticket hall and platforms along its length.

The floor plan of the mezzanine is also angular, with its southern edge crossing diagonally over the tracks, so that the platform stairs, at the southern corners of the mezzanine, are offset from one another. The stairs pass between and wrap around the pairs of pillars supporting the volume’s roof. The edges of the mezzanine, like that of the walkway above, are lined with glass parapets surmounted by attractive spherical light fixtures.

The platforms are built in tunnel out from the central volume. Their walls are clad in sandblasted concrete, with a dynamic pattern of slanting ridges pointing the way to the stairs up to the mezzanine. As one approaches the staircases, the angular ridges get closer together, symbolizing acceleration. Seating consists of rows of individual bucket seats in bright yellow.

The station’s artwork, created by the architect, consists of several arrays of metal panels in bright yellow, orange, and green. In the ticket hall, rhombus-shaped panels form chevrons above the platform stairs and an arrow that runs up the main escalator; a similar arrow on the escalator to the headhouse, more discreet, is visible from the mezzanine below. On the walls of the walkway and in the headhouse, rectangular panels feature slanting fields of colour. The shapes of the panels and the designs, like the concrete panels on the platform walls, point the way to the exit.

The single headhouse is an angular concrete structure with entrances at its northeast and southwest corners. Between them, a large expanse of window illuminates the stairwell leading down into the station. This windowed section is chamfered at the corner of the headhouse, forming a striking triangular surface facing the intersection.