As the world begins to pay more attention to the challenges facing our environment and the increasing desire to improve the quality of urban life among our cities, we at Momentum are dedicated to finding ways to solve such universal issues.
After years working on an array of exciting schemes and developments spanning from the Middle East to Europe, the Americas and of course London where it all began, we are pleased to announce we will be crossing the pond and making Canada the place of our second home.
In this edition of ‘A conversation with,’ we sit down with Amelie Cosse who shares some insights which led to the exciting move and the company’s vision for how our expertise will benefit the beautiful Province of Quebec and North America.
So Amelie tell us…. why Canada?
In a few words, it just feels right. Canada’s urban landscape and sense of urgency and desire to explore a change in how their vast cities and towns are designed is truly exciting in my mind; especially the notion of making the transition away from the car. At Momentum, we have created a culture and identity that revolves around creating and designing spaces for people that are well connected and will enhance the quality of places precisely encouraging people to leave their cars behind to become the walking pedestrians making up the identity of cities. With that purpose driving why we do what we do, combined with our range of expertise, the opportunity to transfer our successful strategies and capabilities from London overseas is something that I cannot wait to explore. Not to mention, how inspired I have been by the recent mayoral election of Valérie Plante, a keen advocate for inclusion, enhanced sustainable travel provisions and connected spaces that will meet the needs of ‘Montrealers’ which further proves the point that it really is an exciting time to embrace such a unique terrain.
Since landing in Montreal, what are you excited about contributing to most?
As touched on briefly before, I’m most excited about being heavily involved in projects that will seek to transform and maximise how public and shared spaces are used across Montreal and further afield. This could start through conversations revolving around urban logistics where we could explore the potential of introducing shared procurement strategies to minimise the number of delivery vehicles attending large business complexes or commercial plazas across Canada.
From my time spent exploring the city and meeting with architects and other forward-thinking stakeholders, it is apparent that there is a desire to help Montreal make the best of its historical and industrial heritage, such as the Old Port of Montreal and Griffintown. There is a real potential to perfectly weave contemporary urban design within authentic historic buildings and the combination of design skills present in Montreal could lead to the creation of a city that is increasingly considered as a destination on the world map of culture and heritage.
On another note, stepping away from urban design and planning, it was recently announced that the city, along with others in Canada, the US and Mexico will be hosting the 2026 World Cup which is a field we have had great success in, especially following our involvement in Baku, ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020, not to mention our stadia work for the new home of the Golden State Warriors and most recently the highly anticipated Las Vegas Raiders stadium. With a new-found base in Montreal, I am excited about the prospect of attracting similar work within North America where our people-focussed expertise can help influence how the next generation of stadiums, spaces and schemes are designed on the continent.
Design or tech? As a designer I’m unapologetically biased and believe every problem or challenge can be solved through design, but I understand for many, it’s all about tech. What are your thoughts, what will have the greatest impact in improving our cities and the spaces we live in?
Well we can’t deny the tremendous potential and huge improvements tech will surely provide us with. We are already seeing glimpses of this through the introduction of autonomous vehicles and shared electric vehicles that are being tested to complement an increasingly popular endeavour towards making our spaces far more sustainable and greener. However, I believe design is very much something of the present. Through the help of design we can proactively begin to create spaces that will improve how people move and live in their communities. Not only that, but with good design, we can also look to improve how our networks and roads are designed to better accommodate for the arrival of high-tech vehicles. Instead of waiting for tech to play its highly anticipated role in transport and urban development, design for me has the power to affect change right now.
To close, can you paint us a picture of how you would like Momentum to grow in Canada and maybe share the vision you have for the impact you feel we could make.
What I’d love to see is Momentum building an equally passionate and dynamic team dedicated to helping transform the way our cities and spaces work for the people who inhabit them over in Canada. What I look forward to most is not only sharing and transferring the wealth of knowledge and experience gained from London to our second home in Montreal, but enriching our current strategies and expertise with the new knowledge that will be gained as we begin to forge relationships with exciting companies and practises in Canada.
One last thing… what do you miss most about London?
I have to say I miss the people behind Momentum, the team. Thank God for Skype.
If you would like to find out any more information on why Canada, or would like to get in touch regarding our services and how we could possibly help, please email: info@momentum-transport.com or visit our Canadian website www.momentum-transport.ca.
