The new building will house the Canadian Canoe Museum, which has one of the world's largest rowing boat collections, with over 100 kayaks and canoes, the oldest dating back to the late 18th century. The project budget is approximately 30 million euros. The site was chosen in the immediate vicinity of the historic St. Petersburg ship lift on the Trent-Severn canal. In contrast to the powerful engineering structure of 1904, the one-story volume proposed by the architects will “dissolve” in the relief of the glacial drumlins. With such tact and attention to the local landscape, heneghan peng's signature techniques, the project attracted the attention of the jury.
The complex shape of the building will be built into the hillside: only from the north and south, it opens with a completely glass wave-like facade. A similar bend in the water façade can be found in
McLaren Foster Technology Center. Completing the "camouflage", it is planned to plant flowers, herbs, corn, beans and even pumpkin on the entire roof of the building (about 8000 m2). It is the roof that will become the main public area, delighting with a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape, a canal with boats and a historic ship lift. A winding "canopy" trimmed with local hardwood will serve as a natural enclosure for the site.
The active implementation of the principles of sustainable architecture, to which Royish Henegan and Shi Fu Peng traditionally pay great attention, became the second important advantage of the project. In addition to the green exploited roof and the use of rainwater, the building will be equipped with a geothermal heating and cooling system. Even the very shape of the future building and its built-in position play an important role: blank facades will help create economical dark rooms that are necessary for light-sensitive exhibits, and calculated planning solutions will make it possible to make the most of the entire 7,500 m2 of area. As a result, the maintenance costs of the museum building will not be high at all.
