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As buildings become taller and more densely packed in Montreal, the risks of construction disruptions “become more significant.”
Jenny Chen bought an air mattress and now sleeps in the living room of her apartment at 2320 Tupper St. “My bedroom is really, really noisy,” she said. “I can’t sleep there.” Photo by Dave Sidaway/Montreal Gazette
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The developer of 1111 Atwater, a 38-story apartment and rental tower under construction in downtown Montreal, offers its clients luxury but gives the neighbors in the high-rise next door a 24/7 racket.
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1111 Atwater, which is the latest of six planned skyscrapers on the former site of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, has a 20-storey mechanical ventilation system built into the side of the building that faces the neighboring apartment building at 2320 Tupper St. The two buildings are about 12 meters apart.
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“I have to wear earplugs, and without earplugs I can’t sleep,” Eric Tian, who lives on the 12th floor of 2320 Tupper, said of the incessant noise. “It’s not acceptable at all.”
Since the fall, Tian has filed complaints with various city departments and his building’s management company, and even called the police. His building management company contacted the developer of 1111 Atwater to complain about the constant loud hum of the ventilation system.
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The developer of 1111 Atwater, EMD-Batimo Group, told the Montreal Gazette that the ventilation system will be calibrated after all the devices are connected to it in the coming weeks.
“We need to finish installing the ventilation system,” said Judith Nevo, vice president in charge of sales and marketing for EMD-Batimo Group. Ventilation pipes have yet to be installed on floors that are under construction, she said. “Eventually there will be a calibration that will reduce the noise to acceptable norms.”
The completion date was originally set for March, but is now expected to be by Feb. 1, Neveu said.
The developer has also hired a firm specializing in acoustic testing and noise abatement to perform sound tests inside and outside 1111 Atwater and propose noise abatement solutions if needed, Neveu said. “Sound tests are underway and more are planned at the end to ensure the system meets city codes.”
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However, Tian says that no one seems concerned, he and his neighbors are suffering from the noise of the fall.
Tian bought his one-bedroom apartment in 2018, before construction began on the two buildings. He moved in last February when 2320 Tupper opened and construction on 1111 Atwater was underway. It seems the last building’s ventilation system started working in October, because Tian says that’s when the noise started and he can no longer sleep or stand being on his balcony.
“It’s like a disaster,” Tian said, adding that the noise seems to be worse at night. “I can’t sleep well at all.”
“I have to wear earplugs, and without earplugs I can’t sleep,” Eric Tian, who lives on the 12th floor of 2320 Tupper, said of the incessant noise. “It’s not acceptable at all.” Photo by Dave Sidaway/Montreal Gazette
The noise from the 1111 Atwater ventilation system seems to be even louder in the apartment of Jenny Chen, who lives two floors down from Tian. Her bedroom window looks straight into the ventilation system of 1111 Atwater.
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Chen bought an air mattress and now sleeps in her living room because the noise isn’t as bad there as in her one bedroom.
“My bedroom is really, really, really loud,” she said. “I can’t sleep there.”
But Chen, who works from home three days a week, said her living room offers no respite from the constant noise of the ventilation system.
“It’s annoying because it’s 24/7,” Chen said.
She visited the unit in July before she bought it from its first owner, but the ventilation system at 1111 Atwater hadn’t started making noise then, she said.
Tian, who is on the board of his condo, helped start a petition for the landlords in his building affected by the noise. The petition has 57 signatures. Tian, Chen and other neighbors also started a text group to update each other on the city’s response.
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For its part, the city of Montreal says it sent a noise control technician to Tian’s building twice in December to record sound levels at different times of the day. The data is currently being analyzed, city spokesman Hugo Bourgoin told the Montreal Gazette in an email last week.
“The data collected by the noise control technique is not public,” he wrote. “However, rest assured that the Borough of Ville-Marie will take the necessary actions and, if necessary, require corrective action from the owner of 1111 Atwater Ave.”
The Montreal Gazette obtained the reports of two noise level tests done in December through an access to information request from Ville-Marie. One test found the average sound level in a bedroom at 2320 Tupper to be 50 dBA with the window open, which exceeds the city’s regulated evening norm of 40 dBA by 10 dBA. The other test recorded an average of 48 dBA in a bedroom with the window closed, exceeding the evening norm for the city by 8 dBA.
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Decibels grow exponentially, so a 10 dBA increase results in a 10-fold increase in sound intensity and what humans perceive as a two-fold increase in loudness.
The former site of the Montreal Children’s Hospital: far left, 1111 Atwater Tower with its noisy ventilation system; the second from the left, 2320 Tupper. Photo by Dave Sidaway/Montreal Gazette
According to World Health Organization guidelines, noise outside homes should not exceed an average of 55 dBA during the day and 40 dBA at night. Environmental noise affects health negatively through irritation and sleep disturbances, according to the WHO, which says the effects can lead to anxiety, depression and cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, strokes and heart attacks.
A report from an area noise control technician says more sound tests are needed. It also lists communication with the project manager of 1111 Atwater from December until last week. “The on-site ventilation installation is currently temporary for construction and the permanent installation is underway (approximately 50 percent complete),” it said. “Should be completed on February 1, 2022. Gaskets are being installed on the check valves to reduce noise.”
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“The City of Montreal is concerned about the well-being and quality of life of the population,” Bourgoin said in his email. “It is for this reason that the Ville-Marie district reacted quickly after the two complaints received (on December 1 and 15) regarding the situation you refer to.”
The municipality is “monitoring the situation closely and rest assured that if action is deemed necessary, it will require the implementation of corrective measures.”
Tian and Chen, however, said they don’t understand why the city and Ville-Marie neighborhood issued a building permit allowing 1111 Atwater to locate the ventilation system to the adjacent units at 2320 Tupper.
Their own building, they said, has a ventilation system at the base of the building.
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The ventilation system on the 1111 Atwater side starts at about the ninth floor and reaches about the 29th floor. Above that, the tower has 25 penthouses starting at $2 million per unit. A real estate broker listed one of the penthouses for $12.1 million plus tax.
Ted Kesick, professor of building science at the University of Toronto’s Daniels School of Architecture, Landscape and Design, said ventilation systems are often placed on the roof of a building. It’s quieter up there and the air is cleaner, he said. Tall buildings require ventilation systems to pump fresh air into the units.
In response to the situation at 1111 Atwater, Kesick said it’s unreasonable that residents of the adjacent tower have to put up with the noise for four months.
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