Architectural Polymers

La Maison Simons, a Quebec fashion specialty retailer founded in 1840, recently opened its first Ontario location at the Square One Mall in Mississauga. As the 12th store overall and only the third outside of its home province of Quebec, the two-story, 110,000 square foot store aimed to capture new artistic and creative elements to give it a unique personality. In this quest to "inspire and delight" customers, Simons worked with their longtime architectural partner, Lemay Michaud, and Toronto-based design firm, Figure3.

Precast concrete was specified for the exterior of the building not only for its durability and aesthetic capabilities, but, more importantly, for its technical capacity. The exterior facade features a clean, white pattern textured with 3D triangles, reflective colorized inserts, and LED lighting to simulate leaves falling or fluttering in the wind. The pre-caster, RES Group, created the precast concrete design with high re-use elastomeric formliners from Architectural Polymers. The textured concrete panels were cast with the necessary mechanical components for the LED lighting.

No two Simons stores are alike, according to CEO Peter Simons. Each one is inspired by the unique location it occupies in a city and features local artists. Simons customers are not just coming to for a shopping expedition, but rather a shopping experience. “We’re creating destinations worth visiting, a platform for human interaction versus just a commercial channel.”