Montreal has welcomed Canada’s fourth Four Seasons outpost, located in the city’s downtown Golden Square Mile. Its home, in a slick black glass building, designed by two local firms Lemay and Sid Lee Architecture, is distinctive amongst corporate concrete towers and 19th-century architecture. Paris-based studio Gilles & Boissier, together with Montreal’s Philip Hazan, are behind the interiors, dressing the warm, neutral palette of the 169 rooms with ethereal backlighting mooth velvet textures, mirrored surfaces, swathes of marble and bronze, gold and dark wood accents.
Running through the centre of the building, from the eighth to seventeenth floors, is an open air atrium featuring a dramatic installation, by local sculptor Pascale Girardin, made up of aluminium and 24-karat gold discs that float down like petals or snowflakes.
The third floor is home to the Social Square, comprised of the restaurant, lounge, bar, and terrace. Designed by Montreal studio Atelier Zébulon Perron, the space was conceived as a place where locals can cross paths with hotel guests. Against a background of bespoke wallpaper with abstract images of Mount Royal Park, the lounge and bar invoke the good-time vibe of the 1970s with curvaceous seating, backbar DJ setup, a patinated brass bar, and moody lighting, custom-made by Montreal’s much-loved Lambert & Fils.
Marcus, the Canadian debut of celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s, is a contemporary brasserie. Complete with a terrace open through in the biting winter, the design is a nod to the classic bistro with serving stations, a black and white tiled marble floor, and rattan chairs with velour upholstery. On the plate, Samuelsson shows off his seafood chops with dishes like the arctic char topped with an apricot bacon broth.§
