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
| Aug 11, 2010
Thom Mayne unveils 'floating cube' design for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas
Calling it a “living educational tool featuring architecture inspired by nature and science,” Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne and leaders from the Museum of Nature & Science unveiled the schematic designs and building model for the Perot Museum of Nature & Science at Victory Park. Groundbreaking on the approximately $185 million project will be held later this fall, and the Museum is expected to open by early 2013.
| Aug 11, 2010
Rafael Vinoly-designed East Wing opens at Cleveland Museum of Art
Rafael Vinoly Architects has designed the new East Wing at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), Ohio, which opened to the public on June 27, 2009. Its completion marks the opening of the first of three planned wings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council Program Place Project
Houston, Texas
The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council Program Place is the headquarters for the largest Girl Scout Council in the U.S., with 63,000 scouts. The building houses the council’s administrative offices, a Girl Scout museum, and activity space. When an adjacent two-story office building became available, the council jumped at the chance to expand its museum and program space.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, HDR top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest institutional building design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 Institutional Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
Museums | Aug 11, 2010
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
This column diagnoses the three most common moisture challenges with museums, archives, and art storage facilities and provides design guidance on how to avoid them.
| Aug 11, 2010
Museum celebrates African-American heritage
The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture recently completed construction on the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus in Charlotte, N.C. Designed by the Freelon Group, Durham, N.C., with Batson-Cook's Atlanta office as project manager, the $18.8 million project achieved nearly 100% minority participation.
| Aug 11, 2010
Design for Miami Art Museum triples gallery space
Herzog & de Meuron has completed design development for the Miami Art Museum’s new complex, which will anchor the city’s 29-acre Museum Park, overlooking Biscayne Bay. At 120,000 sf with 32,000 sf of gallery space, the three-story museum will be three times larger than the current facility.
| Aug 11, 2010
Thom Mayne unveils ‘floating cube’ design for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Calling it a “living educational tool featuring architecture inspired by nature and science,” Pritzker Prize Laureate Thom Mayne unveiled the schematic designs and building model for the Perot Museum of Nature & Science at Victory Park in Dallas. The $185 million, 180,000-sf structure is 170 feet tall—equivalent to approximately 14 stories—and is conceived as a large...
| Aug 11, 2010
Piano's 'Flying Carpet'
Italian architect Renzo Piano refers to his $294 million, 264,000-sf Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago as a “temple of light.” That's all well and good, but how did Piano and the engineers from London-based Arup create an almost entirely naturally lit interior while still protecting the priceless works of art in the Institute's third-floor galleries from dangerous ultravio...