Architecture

Architectural Accolades

2018
RIBA Award for International Excellence 2018
Governor General’s Medal in Architecture
American Institute of Architects 2018 Institute Honor Award for Architecture

2017
Azure AZ Award – Architecture Over 1,000 Square Metres
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Medal in Architecture
Canadian Wood Council Design Award – Wood Design Awards of BC – Institutional Wood Design: Large

Architect’s Introduction

The design of this museum is shaped by three powerful determinants. The first is the need to house both the permanent exhibition of Michael Audain’s collection and, in juxtaposition with this collection, temporary exhibits of all kinds from around the world. The second determinant is the beautiful but challenging site in Whistler which, although blessed by magnificent evergreen forest vegetation, is located within the floodplain of Fitzsimmons Creek. The third determinant is the enormous snowfall typical of Whistler which averages nearly 40 feet annual accumulated depth.

Our design responds to these determinants, simply and directly, by projecting a volume of sequential public spaces and galleries into an existing linear void within the surrounding forest. It is elevated a full storey above the ground and crowned with a steeply-sloped roof, containing administration and back-of-house support functions.

The building design and siting work synergistically within the context of the site to create a public pedestrian link, beginning from the ‘Village Stroll’ (the pedestrian spine of Whistler Village) across Blackcomb Way, leading to and through the Museum and then across the site to Fitzsimmons Creek.

A bridge from Blackcomb Way rises through the forest to arrive at a sky-lit museum entry porch. From there, visitors can either descend to the forest floor and central meadow to continue their passage through the site, or enter into the museum lobby and event space.

Once inside, visitors proceed along a glazed walkway overlooking the meadow below, to gain access first to the galleries which contain the permanent collection and then to the temporary exhibition galleries.

The form and character of the building and interiors is deliberately restrained to provide a quiet, minimal backdrop to the art within and the surrounding natural landscape. The simple form of the exterior is clad in an envelope of dark metal which recedes into the shadows of the surrounding forest. Where this envelope is opened, to provide access in the entry porch or view from the glazed walkway to the galleries, the metal is overlaid by a luminous wood casing.

Public spaces in the interior, which are visible from the exterior, continue this warm luminous materiality. Gallery interiors in both the permanent and temporary exhibition areas are closed white volumes with minimal detail.

John Patkau, Patkau Architects