The site I have chosen is on the eastern corner of Sherbrooke and Clarke, the former site of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. The ground slopes towards the southeast, providing the site with a good southern exposure. Land-use maps label this block as belonging to the Greek community, although there is currently little obvious physical evidence of such.

The Greek Community does in fact own the land. The site itself has belonged to the Community since 1926, and the loss of the Holy Trinity Church on that site was deeply felt within the community. Anything built there now would have to recognise the connection between this site and the Greeks in Montreal.

There are a few buildings immediately visible from the site which are of interest.

This would generally be considered the view from the front of the site, since Sherbrooke is the busier and more prestigious of the two streets bounding the site. (There is an access to St-Laurent, but that access is relatively minor).

This full-on view of a gas station might not be considered an ideal situation, unfortunately.

The Godin Building occupies the northeast side of the block. While the upper portions of this building are dilapidated, the building itself is of a very interesting Art-Nouveau design. The second image above shows the side of the Godin Building that borders the site. There is clearly room for a second building to be built right up against the wall, possibly even expressed as an extension of the Godin Building.

The Godin Building was designed by Joseph Arthur Godin and built in 1915. It is presently owned by the Greek Community of Montreal, and has been declared a protected historic site. It is an early example of a reinforced concrete building in Montreal, and one of the very few examples of Art-Nouveau in North America. It has unfortunately been allowed to deteriorate, and only the first floor is now used. The Greek Community cites a lack of funds as the reason for the lack of maintenance.

Clark Street runs along the eastern edge of the site. It is much quieter than Sherbrooke and St-Laurent, and contains a few residential buildings. Above is the view from Clark, looking up the slope towards the site.

Above are certain details of the site. As can be seen, it has a southern exposure along its long side; the buildup along Clark should therefore be somewhat lower to allow maximum sunlight to spill into the central and far areas of the complex. The east-west axis matches perfectly with the axis from the corner of Sherbrooke and Clark to the Juste Pour Rire museum. A path along this axis would always have the sun shining onto the surfaces on one side, with the other side casting shadows onto the path.

There is a level change of about 6m, enough for about two storeys below the grade of Sherbrooke. It should still be noted that most of this slope is closer to the Sherbrooke side: The lower end of the site, currently marked as being used as a parking lot, is relatively flat in comparison.

The lowest point of the site is the area marked B. From here to point A, the ground slopes up quite steeply until area C where it begins to level out. The change in elevation would be approximately 1.5 to 2 metres. There is some vegetation here, but not much. The boundary of the property here is an unbroken brick wall running the whole length of the lot from A to B.

Most of the site is gravel. The shaded area F shows the beginning of some vegetation. The corner at F is also the highest point of the site.

At shaded area E, the vegetation is quite lush. Also in this area is the fire escape from the Godin Building. This fire escape comes down the corner of the Godin Building on the long side, and must, no doubt, be respected.

The actual entrance to the Jouste Pour Rire museum is to the right of it, but the facade indicated here is a highly distinctive element. It stands out from the architecture around it and catches the eye, and could potentially have a positive or negative relationship with the site across from it.