Whatever floats your boat (no pun intended). That’s what they say when it comes to the wide variety of unique, underground, and sometimes just downright weird things that interest people. Like canoes, for example. Lightweight, narrow boats that many people might be familiar with from taking out on a lake on a beautiful summer day.
But did you know there is a Canadian Canoe Museum in Ontario? In fact, the Canadian Canoe Museum holds the largest collection of canoes and kayaks in the world. Not only that, but they have also just made their decision on the winning proposal in a competition created to design the new Canadian Canoe Museum. The winning firm was Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects, reports ArchDaily, with a design that is nothing if not unique.
The design “embraces aboriginal wisdom to live and build lightly on the land,” the Museum said. And “build lightly” it does. The design, which features an 80,000-sf, single-story structure, is topped with a two-acre rooftop garden. From above, the building is hardly noticeable, vanishing into its surroundings like a camouflaged sniper lying in the weeds.
Image/ Visualization by Luxigon
This blending in with the environment is one of the biggest reasons the design was chosen. The jury liked that it worked with the land rather than overwhelming it.
“The Heneghan Peng Kearns Mancini design stands out through its commitment to sustainability at all levels, alignment with the ethos and culture of the canoe and kayak, its long term operational flexibility and low operating cost, and its respect for the Lift Lock National Historic Site,” said Lisa Rochon, Chair of the Canadian Canoe Museum Selection Committee.
In addition to the impressive rooftop garden, the building will also be clad in cedar and fitted with removable partitions allowing for the layout of the museum to change over time. Features will include 17,000-sf of exhibition space, a 20,000-sf high bay storage area, a 250-seat multi-purpose room, café, gift shop, artisanal workshops, and a toddler play area. It is apparent this is going to be a place for more people than just those who take a deep interest in kayaks and canoes.
Image/ Visualization by Luxigon
The structure, which is estimated to cost between $45 and $50 million, will be built on the Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site with the expectation of breaking ground in late 2017 and opening 30 months later. Although, the project still has some hurdles to clear before it becomes official. Richard Tucker, Executive Director of the Canadian Canoe Museum explained the next steps.
“The Canadian Canoe Museum will immediately start work on the design and submission of a planning application to the City of Peterborough and Parks Canada to approve the new facility as well as laying the ground work for our fund raising campaign,” Tucker said. “This is a very significant and extremely important project for all Canadians, Parks Canada, The Canadian Canoe Museum, the City of Peterborough, the County of Peterborough, the Trent Severn Waterway and the entire Kawartha Region and we will need everybody’s strong support and backing in whatever way possible to make this project a reality.”
If and when it is completed, the eccentrically designed museum hopes to be a boon to the surrounding area.
Heneghan Peng will collaborate with Kearns Mancini Architects, a local firm, to help bring the structure to fruition. Also on the building team are ARUP (Building Services & SE), Foggy River Farm Design (landscape architect), and Bartenbach (lighting design).
Model: Andrew Ingham & Associates
Image/ Visualization by Luxigon Architects
Model: Andrew Ingham & Associates
Related Stories
| Nov 3, 2014
IIT names winners of inaugural Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize
Herzog & de Meuron's iconic 1111 Lincoln Road parking garage in Miami Beach, Fla., is one of two winners of the $50,000 architectural prize.
| Oct 29, 2014
Diller Scofidio + Renfro selected to design Olympic Museum in Colorado Springs
The museum is slated for an early 2018 completion, and will include a hall of fame, theater, retail space, and a 20,000-sf hall that will showcase the history of the Olympics and Paralympics.
| Oct 23, 2014
Prehistory museum's slanted roof mimics archaeological excavation [slideshow]
Mimicking the unearthing of archaeological sites, Henning Larsen Architects' recently opened Moesgaard Museum in Denmark has a planted roof that slopes upward out of the landscape.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 10, 2014
A new memorial by Zaha Hadid in Cambodia departs from the expected
The project sees a departure from Hadid’s well-known use of concrete, fiberglass, and resin. Instead, the primary material will be timber, curved and symmetrical like the Angkor Wat and other Cambodian landmarks.
| Sep 25, 2014
Jean Nouvel unveils plans for National Art Museum of China
Of the design, Nouvel describes it as inspired by the simplicity of “a single brush stroke.”
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 24, 2014
Frank Gehry's first building in Latin America will host grand opening on Oct. 2
Gehry's design for the Biomuseo, or Museum of Biodiversity, draws inspiration from the site's natural and cultural surroundings, including local Panamaian tin roofs.
