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A modern cave: The design of Le Drug

A black and white photograph of a man with glasses lying on a molded curved white alcove with one arm hanging down. Molded white tables can be seen in the foreground. A white neon light coming from a tube-like form is hanging from the ceiling into the centre of the image.

Date: 1965
Credit: John Max (photographer), copyright 1965
Courtesy of François Dallegret

François Dallegret carried out his first Montreal project in 1964, the year of his arrival. This is Le Drug, on de la Montagne (then named Mountain Street) in downtown Montreal. It was much more than a pharmacy with a unique design and concept. It also housed an upscale boutique, a a café-restaurant-discotheque, and a Gallery-Lab. In addition to designing the distinctive interior, Dallegret also managed the Gallery-Lab himself. Le Drug was futuristic with curved, smooth walls and ceilings of fiberglass painted entirely white, like a modern cave!

Le Drug, like The New Penelope, was experimental and avant-garde for its time. Unfortunately, its decor reportedly made it difficult to maintain.