Sneaking Up to the Roof
Last week, Owen Rose wrote about rooftop greening, which is an exciting opportunity for any city that has an overabundance of flat gravel roofs. Personally, though, when I think of “rooftop,” I can’t help but imagine something else: the views. Every city has a few well-known points of higher elevation. You’ll see them on postcards, in news reports, in tourist photos — eventually, they become clichéd vistas that are pleasant but entirely predicable.
What you see when you emerge onto some random, out-of-the-way rooftop, however, is entirely surprising. The city takes on a different form; you notice things you never noticed before. The problem is that the vast majority of a city’s rooftops are not accessible to the public, unless you risk climbing up rickety fire escapes. Luckily, there are a few rooftops here and there that are, for less adventurous types like myself, relatively easy to access.
Easiest of all is Concordia’s EV Building at the corner of Guy and Ste. Catherine. Although the rooftop is usually closed, the windows in the stairwells offer some lovely views of downtown — as does the four-storey atrium at the top of the building. On the south side of the building, there is a sometimes-open eleventh floor terrace overlooking Ste. Catherine Street.
A few blocks up Guy Street, between Lincoln and Sherbrooke, is a 35-storey apartment building with a rooftop terrace, accessible by stairs from the top floor. Although access to the building is restricted, there are always enough people coming and going that you’ll be able to slip in unnoticed.
On the other side of downtown at the corner of St. Laurent and Bagg, across from the Schubert Bath and next door to the Cinéma L’Amour, is the Cooper Building, one of the lovely old garment factories built when the Main was the heart of Montreal’s schmatta industry. Today, it’s full of design studios and film companies — and it has a fantastic view from the roof. To get there, take the elevator to the top floor and then head for the stairs; when you emerge onto the roof, you’ll be treated to the magnificient sight of Mount Royal, downtown and the Plateau.
There are plenty of other unusual views from on high that you don’t have to risk your life to get to. On the river, the view from the Harbour Clock is worth the several hundred stairs it takes to get to the top; nearby, the Point-à-Callière archaeology museum’s roof is open to museum visitors or anyone stealthy enough to sneak past the security guards. In Point St. Charles, the Nordelec Building on St. Patrick, between Centre Street and the canal, has a terrace with gorgeous views of downtown and Mount Royal.
Many more await. I’m especially eager to get to the top of the many apartment towers that litter the residential neighbourhoods surrounding downtown Montreal. One day…
Tags: Exploring the City, Montreal, Rooftops, Views from Above
Montreal Apartments
Owen Rose says:
Great views Chris!
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Christopher Szabla says:
ah yes, public access university buildings make for great, often unconventional views. if one can sneak inside, the NYU student center on washington square has a bubble-like staircase that feels as if it floats over the city; many of its study lounges offer interesting views as well, some 270-degree panoramas. the school of international affairs offers a similarly distinct far-uptown view of the distant spindly towers of midtown.
December 4th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Alan says:
Exceptional, vibrant photos!
Thanks for posting them.
December 18th, 2006 at 4:32 pm