Fresh Fridays-The Toronto Museum
From: http://www.archdaily.com/
The Gardiner Museum is one of the world's pre-eminent institutions devoted to ceramic art, and the only museum of its kind in Canada. It is also one of the major projects in Toronto's cultural renaissance. The Gardiner renewal, together with the Royal Ontario Museum across the street and the Royal Conservatory of Music around the corner on Bloor Street West, will form a new cultural precinct for the city.
Framed between the neoclassical Lillian Massey building to the north and the Queen Anne-style Margaret Addison Hall to the south, the renewal creates a bolder, more welcoming urban presence for the Gardiner. Inside, the interior is completely transformed to prioritize the display of the museum's collections and to create a memorable, inviting visitor experience.
A BOLDER, WELCOMING IMAGE FOR THE GARDINER
The renewal builds on top of the original structure, designed by Keith Wagland in 1984, to anticipate vertical expansion. The third floor expansion and extension of the original footprint to the street negotiates a bolder image for the Gardiner, while carefully maintaining the intimate scale for which the original building was admired.
The original pink granite exterior is replaced with polished buff limestone to give the Gardiner a more contemporary image. The limestone seamlessly weaves existing and expanded spaces together. Screens of limestone louvers control solar exposure into the upper floors of the west and south facades. The front of the museum is completely re-landscaped with a series of terraced platforms that provide a gradual ascent into the forecourt of the building.
Deets:
Architects: KPMB Architects
Location: Toronto, Canada
Client: Gardiner Museum
Project Team: Bruce Kuwabara (design principal), Shirley Blumberg (partner-in-charge), Paulo Rocha (design/project architect); Shane O'Neill, Javier Uribe, Kevin Bridgman, Tyler Sharpe, Ramon Janer, Steven Casey, Bill Colaco (project team)
Structural Enginnering: Halsall Associates Ltd.
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering: Crossey Engineering Ltd.
Contractor: Urbacon
Budget: US $7,23M
Photographs: Eduard Hueber & Tom Arban
http://www.archdaily.com/10044/gardiner-museum-renewal-kpmb-architects/#more-10044
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