MONTREAL.- Dr. Arthur T. Porter, Director General and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), announced today that Moshe Safdie, a McGill University graduate and world-renowned architect, has accepted to design the master plan for the Glen Campus of the MUHC, a 43-acre former brownfield site destined to revitalize several neighbourhoods. Mr. Safdie will join a consortium of elite Quebec and U.S. architects in working on the $1.579-billion redevelopment project. The MUHC will be his first academic healthcare centre.

Three years after graduating from McGill, 24-year-old Moshe Safdie shone a spotlight on Montreal that was seen around the world when he took charge of the master plan for Expo '67 and created what is undeniably a 20th century icon with Habitat '67. Since that initial project, the now veteran architect's work has spanned the globe and includes a rich array of public and academic institutions as well as major cultural and civic projects. His return home to Montreal represents a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and assure the city's appointment as a UNESCO City of Design.

"After only one conversation with Moshe Safdie, I realized this is a man who respects the people who will ultimately use the buildings he creates," stated Dr. Arthur T. Porter. "It's not about grandiose architecture or what's fashionable today. Mr. Safdie's soft-spoken manner and philosophy convinced me that the healing environment which will be created on the MUHC's Glen Campus will indeed shape the face of health care in the 21st century."

There are myriad challenges in designing a world-class academic healthcare campus, which is dedicated to integrated clinical care for children and adults as well as research and teaching. From a functional and technical design perspective, these challenges include creating distinct yet connected environments, ensuring user-friendliness for patients, families, visitors and personnel, and planning buildings that can evolve apace of ever-advancing medical practice and science. Success also hinges on how well the campus fits into its surroundings and how people interact with the space.

"Hospital environments have come to be synonymous with alienation, as they have grown larger, more confusing and an assemblage of patched-up additions. I am most excited about the challenge and opportunity presented by the MUHC to create a new model for healthcare architecture for the 21st century. I look forward to meeting the objectives articulated by David Culver and Arthur Porter, notably of creating a place of community, humanity and comfort for patients, their families and the dedicated healthcare professionals. Rarely has there been an opportunity to re-examine hospital architecture from first principles," noted Moshe Safdie.

The consortium charged with designing the two campuses for the MUHC comprises Les architectes Lemay et associes; Jodoin Lamarre Pratte et associes architectes; Andre Ibghy Architectes; and Menkes Shooner Dagenais Letourneux. In addition to Moshe Safdie & Associates, Perkins+Will will contribute invaluable international expertise to the team, which has a combined total of more than one hundred years of experience in major projects.

"We have an incredibly dynamic group," stated Louis T. Lemay, Senior Architect and President, Les architectes Lemay et associes. "The energy that will drive this project is sure to guarantee world-class facilities that are on the vanguard of the best in healthcare design trends. We're all looking forward to the creative process."

Safdie's Canadian projects include Montreal's Habitat '67 and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (last pavilion); Quebec City's Musee de la civilisation; Ottawa's National Gallery of Canada; Toronto's Pearson International Airport (rebuild); and Vancouver's largest ever capital project, Library Square. His peers and the international community have recognized his extensive repertoire of projects. Recent building openings include the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah and the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem. The Khalsa Memorial Complex, the national museum of the Sikh people in Punjab, India, is currently under construction. He has recently been commissioned to design a $3.4-billion integrated resort for the Venetian Sands in Singapore, to be complete in 2009.

The MUHC has registered the Redevelopment Project with the Canada Green Building Council and is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification - a benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings - for both the Glen and Mountain campuses.