ARCHITECT MORIYAMA & TESHIMA ARCHITECTS, GRIFFITHS RANKIN COOK ARCHITECTS, ARCHITECTS IN JOINT VENTURE
LOCATION OTTAWA, ONTARIO
Regeneration embodies the sequences of devastation, survival, rebirth, adaptation and life. In war, nature–comprising the land and the human spirit nurtured thereon–is ravaged and seemingly destroyed. Miraculously and somehow inevitably, however, nature survives and regenerates as the power of life prevails. It is this process of regeneration and healing that nourishes and rekindles human hope, faith and courage.
The design concept of regeneration was inspired by stories of Canadian veterans, war poetry, and images found in photographs and paintings in the Canadian War Museum’s Beaverbrook Collection of War Art: Canadian soldiers standing in desolate foreign landscapes, and the Beaumont Hamel Memorial in France where trenches, now covered with lush green vegetation, preserve the memory of the 710 Newfoundlanders sacrificed at the 1916 Battle of the Somme.
The building emerges gently from the bank of the Ottawa River, rising slowly towards the east to engage the urban cityscape and pay homage to, in the distance, the Parliamentary Precinct. The overall expression of the building is horizontal, with a rooftop of wild grasses. One can imagine peeling back this protective cover to reveal the interior spaces: the memory of war captured in the complex system of tilting planes that collide and intersect with one another lending to a sense of disorientation from within. The landscape overlay is evidence of the healing power of time and nature: land fusing with ruin in a slow process of regeneration and hybridization.
The concept of regeneration demanded design and construction strategies that embraced sustainability and energy conservation. Recycled copper cladding from the Library of Parliament covers two walls in the foyer and the north wall of the Lebreton Gallery. The green roof is an effective and economical solution to stormwater management and provides significant energy savings and air pollution remediation. Concrete, incorporating recycled fly ash, provides an energy-conserving mass. River water is used for mechanical cooling, non-potable uses and ground irrigation.
With a total gross floor area of 40,860 square metres, wall slopes from three to 31 degrees, and 32,000 cubic metres of concrete weighing 80,000 tonnes, the project engendered certain feats of engineering and building science. For example, in order to avoid the controlled appearance and relatively limited panel size inherent in a precast panel system, a custom poured-inplace cladding system was developed. All exterior cladding panels were formed and poured in situ in a process known as site-casting.
Anne Cormier: This is a building for war that conveys a sense of peace. Light and water offer a sense of tranquility to the darkness and solitude of the “trenches” while the mass of the building has a discreet rather than triumphant presence in the landscape. As a form of land art, unusual geometries are articulated with an authenticity of material–inside and out–that lend themselves to a brutal yet sculptural honesty. The result is an evocative and introspective architecture.CA
CLIENT CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM, CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION CORPORATION
ARCHITECT TEAM MORIYAMA & TESHIMA ARCHITECTS: RAYMOND MORIYAMA, TED TESHIMA, DIARMUID NASH, JASON MORIYAMA, AJON MORIYAMA, BRIAN RUDY, GREG KARAVELIS, MARK THOLEN, NATHALIE MARION, DREW WENSLEY, GENE ASCENZI, JOHN BLAKEY, TAWNYA CLARK, ADAM DUNN, SHAWN GEDDES, ROY GILL, NORMAN JENNINGS, AUBREY MCINTOSH, KARLENE MOOTOO, ELIAS SAOUD, PHIL SILVERSTEIN, GEORGE STOCKTON, SANDRO UBALDINO. GRIFFITHS RANKIN COOK ARCHITECTS: ALEX RANKIN, ALEX LEUNG, EARL REINKE, LOUIS LORTIE, EMMANUELLE VAN RUTTEN, NATASHA AMO, AL BUSSIERE, MICHAEL CONWAY, JOHN COOK, DAN HENHOEFFER, JAN KAPSA, ERIC LAFLAMME, TAMMY LAVERTY, SHERRY MACKAY, GREG MANLEY, JANIS NORRIS, GINA PAPOUTSIS, PETER RANKIN, MICHELLE SEVIGNY, MARTIN TITE, JAMIE WHALEY, ROBERT WRIGHT, MICHELLE ZUNTI.
LANDSCAPE WILLIAMS, ASSELIN, ACKAOUI
STRUCTURAL ADJELEIAN ALLEN RUBELI
MECHANICAL THE MITCHELL PARTNERSHIP INC.
ELECTRICAL CROSSEY ENGINEERING LTD.
CIVIL STANTEC CONSULTING
EXHIBITION DESIGN CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM, HALEY SHARPE DESIGN, ORIGIN STUDIOS, LORIMER & ASSOCIATES
PROJECT MANAGERS GESPRO/GENIVAR
CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS PCL CONSTRUCTORS CANADA INC.
AREA 41,000 M2
BUDGET $115 M INCLUDING $21 M FOR EXHIBITS
COMPLETION DECEMBER 2004