115 studios for Cirque du Soleil
Montreal
Les architectes FABG

Like their occupants, these dorm rooms break the mold

© Steve Montpetit

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Before they can dazzle audiences with their acrobatics and artistry, young performers from around the world converge on the Cirque du Soleil studios in Montréal for an intensive few months of training.

This project contains 115 individual dwelling units for Cirque’s artists. Some of the units can be combined to form suites. The complex also contains common living rooms, balconies, a fitness room, a party room and an Internet café.

Cirque’s studios and head office, along with service spaces, are located in the building’s lower levels, which are flush with other buildings on the street. These spaces form a plinth, above which rests the cube of dwelling units. Some of the units, though, break out of the cube. The architects described this effect as a series of containers stacked above each; they intended it to symbolize the tension that exists between the individuals and the collective of Cirque’s performance company.

Formal name of Project:
115 studios for Cirque du Soleil

Location:
Montreal

Gross square footage:
50,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$5 million

Owner:
Cirque du Soleil

Architect:
Les architectes FABG
5402 St-Laurent, Montréal, H2T 1S1
T 514-274-7555
F 514-2374-3646
www.arch-fabg.com