An art pavilion that blurs the museum/city divide

The latest extension of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery strengthens the attractiveness of the cultural institution, offering the community a space for socializing and gathering.

KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion alla Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022. Foto doublespace photography KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion alla Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022. Foto doublespace photography

KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022 concept diagram

KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022 axonometric

KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022 ground floor plan

View Article details

Chiara Testoni
16 February 2023
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
KPMB Architects
836 sqm
Museum / Gallery
2022

Established in 1959 at the behest of patron Lord Beaverbrook, who financed the construction and donated his rich collection of artwork to the community, over the years Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, has become an epicentre of cultural promotion on a supra-local level, increasingly integrating its artistic heritage with modern and contemporary pieces by artists from Canada and around the world. Since the 1980s, the complex has undergone several extensions aimed at increasing its attractiveness, with new floors to accommodate public services, a wing dedicated to the exhibition of international works and a sculpture garden. The latest extension, the Harrison McCain Pavilion designed by the Canadian firm KPMB Architects, marks another chapter in the history of this place with a bivalent functionality: on the one hand, a cultured and recognisable "institutional" monument, on the other, an "urban living room" in which the community converges and recognises itself.

This dual soul is also represented by the architectural choices. If, on the one hand, the delicate concavity of the main façade seems to embrace the city and warmly invite people to enter, on the other hand, the minimalist portico of prefabricated concrete and glass and the positioning of the building on a basement – also for functional reasons given the flood risk in the area – recall the courtly composure of a classical temple dedicated to Culture, here reinterpreted in a contemporary key.

KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022

Outside, the wide staircase leads to the entrance, where the full-height windows create a perceptive continuity between inside and outside; inside, the multifunctional atrium with the ticket office, café, souvenir shop and space for temporary exhibitions introduces the successive rooms of the collection and serves as a meeting and gathering place for the community.

KPMB Architects, Harrison McCain Pavilion at Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada 2022

Sections

Specials

Magazine

An art pavilion that blurs the museum/city divide

The latest extension of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery strengthens the attractiveness of the cultural institution, offering the community a space for socializing and gathering.

View Article details

Sections

Specials

Magazine

An art pavilion that blurs the museum/city divide

The latest extension of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery strengthens the attractiveness of the cultural institution, offering the community a space for socializing and gathering.

View Article details

Share

Share