The new Niagara Falls Visitor Center, located within Niagara Falls State Park, will offer an immersive experience, both inside the building and out, as it takes visitors on a journey spanning the eras of geological formation and human impacts on the falls and highlighting the flora and fauna of the environs.
Designed by GWWO Architects, the 29,000-sf center will include visitor orientation, a lobby, interactive exhibits, a gift shop, dining, outdoor terraces, and an overlook. The building frames views to the head of the falls and gracefully transitions visitors between the formal entrance gardens in the upper site and the Frederick Law Olmsted- designed landscape of the lower grove.
The expansive glass facade maximizes views and offers continuous connections to the falls throughout the lobby and exhibit areas. The building will be integrated with its site and history via natural materials such as limestone sourced from the Niagara escarpment, wood ceilings, and blackened metal roof and soffit.
The facility’s design will emphasize nature and allow visitors to choose their own path and level of discovery, which will allow for social distancing and crowd control. Outdoor interpretation, dining, and a new accessible path will provide safe spaces for visitors to gather.
The new visitor center will also include sustainable features such as bifacial photovoltaic panels that will be expressed around the perimeter of the roof of the building, with openings in the entrance canopy that will allow them to be viewed from below. Two cisterns will be installed to capture water from the building’s roof to irrigate native plantings on the site.
The Niagara Falls Visitor Center is expected to open in Spring 2023.
Related Stories
Architects | Jun 14, 2018
Chicago Architecture Center sets Aug. 31 as opening date
The Center is located at 111 E. Wacker Drive.
Museums | Jun 1, 2018
The new Orange County Museum of Art will be Orange County’s largest center for arts and culture
Morphosis designed the building.
| May 24, 2018
Accelerate Live! talk: Security and the built environment: Insights from an embassy designer
In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), embassy designer Tom Jacobs explores ways that provide the needed protection while keeping intact the representational and inspirational qualities of a design.
Museums | Apr 2, 2018
‘Canopy of Peace’ to rise 150 feet above The National WWII Museum
The piece will tie together the six-acre campus.
Museums | Mar 27, 2018
The future of museums: The ultimate visitor experience
Kirill Pivovarov discusses how museums and retail stores are influencing each other to create a better visitor experience. Special thanks to Paul Conder for contributing his retail insights.
Museums | Feb 26, 2018
*UPDATED* Design team unveils plans for the renovated and expanded Gateway Arch Museum
The goal of the project is to create closer and more robust connections between the Gateway Arch Museum and the landscape of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
Museums | Jan 11, 2018
Suzhou Science & Technology Museum will highlight new cultural district in Shishan Park
The 600,000-sf museum will be about 62 miles northwest of Shanghai.
Museums | Dec 12, 2017
History museum embodies the culture of the Oregon coast
The barnlike structure comprises 15,000 sf of space.
Museums | Oct 3, 2017
Denmark’s new LEGO experience hub looks like it’s made out of giant LEGO blocks
The 12,000-sm building is part of Billund, Denmark’s goal to become the ‘Capital for Children.’
Museums | Sep 28, 2017
Tunnel-boring machine will be the centerpiece of a planned 150,000-sf Metro Museum in Wuhan, China
GreenbergFarrow beat out five other design firms for the opportunity to design the museum.
