In June, Aire commune launched Station d’été, an outdoor workspace on Place Ville Marie’s Esplanade PVM. Free, and open to all, the station features two bright meeting rooms installed in glass containers, with an exterior work patio.

Using bold design to attract workers downtown

The pandemic hurt the business districts of every major city in the world, and Montreal was no exception. This initiative is a way to revitalize the downtown area and to invite workers to make the spaces their own, in keeping with the vision of Nouveau Centre, Ivanhoé Cambridge’s experiential destination. Groups of eight fit in these streamlined spaces, which are ideal for meeting with colleagues while rediscovering the heart of the city. Wi-Fi, power outlets, TV, air conditioning, integrated greening: everything professionals need to have a satisfyingly unique work experience in downtown Montreal.

Located in the heart of Montreal’s most important business district, Station d’été proved to be very popular among workers of the area.

• More than 400 bookings over the summer of 2022;

• Nearly 10,000 visitors; 

• Occupancy rate of more than 65%. 

Station d’été is part of the Îlots d’été network, a creation of Aire commune. The organization became involved in green-desking in 2017, and has since activated a network of 40 outdoor workspaces. It was immediately a huge success, attracting nearly 30,000 users the first year. As such, the network doubled in size this year, and is now the largest outdoor workspace network in North America.

Thanks to our partners! 

The Îlots d’été network is made possible by the financial support of Tourisme Montréal’s Fonds de maintien des actifs stratégiques en tourisme, with financial contributions from the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec. The project also received financial support from the City of Montreal’s Service du développement économique, the Ville-Marie borough, Fizz, PVM, and Desjardins Group.