FRENCH RIVER VISITOR

CENTRE,ONTARIOARCHITECTURAL DESIGN –V

PRESENTED BY-

DIBYESH MISHRA (114AR0007)

SONAKSHI BHATTACHARJEE(114AR0024)

PROJECT DETAILSArchitects

• Baird Sampson Neuert Architects

Project Director

• Jon Neuert

Area

• 8700.0 sqm

Project Year

• 2006

Gross Area

• 791 m² [8,514 s.f.]

Budget

• $4.8 million

CONCEPT

• Site and surroundings.

CONCEPT• The French River marks the transition to the Canadian Shield.

• Designated as Canada’s first Heritage Waterway.

• The project establishes an architecture of the River, defining and invoking its physical qualities and cultural legacy• through an integrated approach to architecture, landscape and exhibit

environments.

• the project embraces its condition as a place of passage, and is itself an expedition• through its siting, organization, views and exhibition, and as a

responsible construction in nature.

• Flowing across an archetypal landscape of rock and water, visitor experience is organized along a continuously inclined topography of found and constructed elements that establish an interpretive and spatial armature for the project, which interprets the River’s descent from its headwaters at Lake Nippissing to its delta at Georgian Bay.

SITE

PLAN

PLAN

PLAN

AXONOMETRIC VIEW (FLOOR PLAN)

ELEVATIONS

West side elevation

East side elevation

ELEVATIONS

North side elevation

SECTION

PROJECT DETAIL

• Series of terraces accommodate public rooms and events.

• The building is organized into two primary vessels: Visitor and mechanical services are located behind an expansive concrete wall that merges with the granite topography of the site.

• A larger wooden volume hovers above this found / constructed landscape.

• Exhibition Detail :

• The “Voices of the River” exhibition provides a first person accounts of their experience with the River, using historical accounts and contemporary voices that embrace the River multicultural character and the role ‘canoe culture’ plays in shaping Canadian identity.

CONSTRUCTION DETAIL

The concrete pillars makes the lower contour continous by taking the mass to the top.

SUSTAINABLE FEATURES

• The building is sited to minimize environmental impacts

• Series of constructed ‘islands’ that mark the locations of water related infrastructure, which includes an ‘Ecoflow’ sanitary treatment systems using sphagnum moss.

• Inert and durable local materials – wood, concrete and stone are the primary building materials.

• Constructed upon an outcrop of exposed granite, the building was carefully detailed to create an insulated thermal mass/storage for the Centre.

• Granite is exposed on the interior as part of the building’s geology exhibit. Rain water is collected in a cistern that forms part of the building’s entry terrace.

• Exterior terraces are designed to support wide ranging activities and to generate favourable microclimate in the shoulder seasons - protected from westerly winter winds and open to solar access to the south.

• A high performance building envelope constructed from structural insulated panels, together with heat recovery on ventilation air, provides an energy conservation strategy that exceeds MNECB standards by 40%.

Entrance from the parking

Open terrace

Entry terrace

Ecoflow area

Surrounding forest

Material palette

Interior views

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

• It captures the essence of the place.

• Organic.

• The shape of the building is reminiscent of the materiality of nature.

• Expresses the solidity and fragility of its environment.

• Energy efficient.

AWARDS• RAIC Governor General’s Medal 2010

• Canadian Museums Association Award for

Outstanding Achievement – Facility Development and Design 2008

• OAA Design Excellence Award 2007

• OAA Best in Show 2007

• Outside the Box Award – Design Excellence 2007

• Woodworks Award 2006

• Design Exchange Silver Award – Architectural commercial 2006

• Canadian Architect Award of Excellence 2005

• Ontario Concrete Award of Merit 2005

REFERENCES

• French River Visitor Centre / Baird Sampson Neuert Architects ,retrieved from archdaily.com

• Retrived from - http://www.bsnarchitects.com

• Architecture | French River Provincial Park Visitor Centre,SEPTEMBER 23, 2012 – retrieved from https://fototype.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/architecture-french-river-provincial-park-visitor-centre-4/

• Retrieved from - https://www.canadianarchitect.com/

THANK YOU!