Stout, who worked in the past with Frank Gehry, also designs in the mainstream of deconstructivism, although his own buildings are much more chamber and simple than the works of the great masters of this direction. At the same time, despite the dryness and formality in the reproduction of the main elements of the style, this architect, apparently, found his niche as the author of museum projects for provincial cities in North America. In 2008, his museum opened in Roanoke, Virginia, now it's Edmonton's turn. One gets the impression that Stout's work is an option for the authorities seeking the "Bilbao effect" in those cities where there is no financial opportunity to cooperate with Gehry, Zaha Hadid or Daniel Libeskind.
In the case of the Gallery of Alberta, it was actually required to rebuild only part of the building, while maintaining almost unchanged 3,000 m2 of space in the old building of 1969, which houses the halls and an auditorium with 150 seats; the existing educational center has doubled, the exhibition space has also become larger, a museum shop and a cafe have appeared. But the most striking element of the new "wing" is an atrium with stairs, hidden behind a facade of steel and glass. Its curvilinear shape should attract visitors to the gallery; also, this room is designed for various social events. The building's façade, overlooking the central town square of Winston Churchill, reflects local realities in its forms: according to Randall Stout, it is inspired by the ribbons of the northern lights, a common phenomenon for Alberta, as well as the bends of the North Saskatchewan River, on which Edmonton stands.
