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
Museums | Jul 11, 2022
Denmark opens a museum that tells the stories of refugees worldwide
Located on the site of Denmark’s largest World War II refugee camp, the new Refugee Museum of Denmark, FLUGT, tells the stories of refugees from the camp as well as refugees worldwide.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Museums | May 31, 2022
University of Texas at Dallas breaks ground on new 12-acre cultural district
The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) recently broke ground on the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the first phase of a new 12-acre cultural district on campus.
Museums | Mar 16, 2022
Unpacking the secrets to good museum storage
Museum leaders should focus as much design attention on the archives as the galleries themselves, according to a new white paper by Erin Flynn and Bruce Davis, architects and museum experts with the firm Cooper Robertson.
Projects | Mar 2, 2022
Construction nears completion on $1B Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo
At an estimated budget of $1 billion, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is considered the largest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization. The superlatives don’t end there: It’s also the largest museum in Egypt, the largest Pharaonic museum in the world, and one of the world’s leading scientific, historical, and archeological study centers.
Museums | Feb 25, 2022
Virginia Museum of History and Culture set to reopen after 18-month renovation
Expanded exhibits present new learning approaches.
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2022
On-campus performing arts centers and museums can be talent magnets for universities
Cultural facilities are changing the way prospective students and parents view higher education campuses.
Museums | Jan 25, 2022
Cooper Robertson selected to design master plan for Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
The project will seek public input regarding the campus master plan.
Museums | Jan 14, 2022
The Shedd Aquarium unveils its $500 million vision for the future
The project will prepare the aquarium for the next 100 years.
Museums | Dec 20, 2021
Marvel selected for $21 million renovation of the Bronx Museum of Arts’ Grand Concourse Entrance
The museum is one of NYC’s only major museums with free admission.