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Canada

1867 Yonge Street
Suite 1100
Toronto, ON
M4S 1Y5
+1 416.480.2020

United States

530 Seventh Avenue
M2 - Unit 20
New York, NY
10018
+1 212.283.3030

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Canada

1867 Yonge Street
Suite 1100
Toronto, ON
M4S 1Y5
+1 416.480.2020

United States

530 Seventh Avenue
M2 - Unit 20
New York, NY
10018
+1 212.283.3030

Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre

Overview

The Feasibility Study and Master Plan for the proposed new 40,000 sq. ft. building for the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre highlights the innovative experiences planned for the facility and outlines how to accommodate and showcase the ongoing research conducted by the CFDC.

Details

Client
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
Project
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
Size
40,000 sq. ft.
Scope
Master Planning
Location
Morden, MB, CA
Year Completed
2022

The
Goal

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre is looking to transition from its previous location to a new museum dedicated to the research, education, and display of marine and terrestrial fossils. As they had outgrown their existing facility, the intent is to move from an old location to a new purpose-built facility in Morden Manitoba.

The
Design

The plan outlines a configuration for the new space, split evenly between public areas and back-of-house facilities, including collections storage and laboratory spaces with proposed exhibits that will be bold and exciting.

The Mapping Gallery illustrates the extinction periods and geological chronology acting as an introduction to the main Paleontology Gallery. This gallery connects to the Ice Age and Lake Agassiz gallery from which visitors exit to the shop at the end of their visit. The galleries have wide span steel grid column spacing and sufficient height for hanging large fossils and large interactive displays. There will be limited windows to allow for immersive and interactive exhibits requiring a high degree of light control. Featuring the largest collection of marine fossils in Canada, these immersive experiences represent the ancient Western Interior Seaway which once flooded the area, with rippling projected light and suspended fossils that swim above the visitors.

Other galleries, representing the Ice Age, have full-wall murals, allowing an immersive experience. Highlighting the glacial Lake Agassiz and more recent chronologically than the fossil galleries, at only 12,000 years old, it was important that this gallery looked and felt completely different than the Late Cretaceous marine fossil galleries that house the other main part of the Centre’s collection. This is achieved not only by use of a different color palette, but also by displaying the collections posed on the ground rather than swimming above the visitor, creating a visual distinction between the eras of life that have made this location home over the eons.

The
Result

Renderings created as part of this study have been used for fundraising to help make this new Centre a reality.

Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre

Details

Client
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
Project
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
Size
40,000 sq. ft.
Scope
Master Planning
Location
Morden, MB, CA
Year Completed
2022

Overview

The Feasibility Study and Master Plan for the proposed new 40,000 sq. ft. building for the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre highlights the innovative experiences planned for the facility and outlines how to accommodate and showcase the ongoing research conducted by the CFDC.

The
Goal

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre is looking to transition from its previous location to a new museum dedicated to the research, education, and display of marine and terrestrial fossils. As they had outgrown their existing facility, the intent is to move from an old location to a new purpose-built facility in Morden Manitoba.

The
Design

The plan outlines a configuration for the new space, split evenly between public areas and back-of-house facilities, including collections storage and laboratory spaces with proposed exhibits that will be bold and exciting.

The Mapping Gallery illustrates the extinction periods and geological chronology acting as an introduction to the main Paleontology Gallery. This gallery connects to the Ice Age and Lake Agassiz gallery from which visitors exit to the shop at the end of their visit. The galleries have wide span steel grid column spacing and sufficient height for hanging large fossils and large interactive displays. There will be limited windows to allow for immersive and interactive exhibits requiring a high degree of light control. Featuring the largest collection of marine fossils in Canada, these immersive experiences represent the ancient Western Interior Seaway which once flooded the area, with rippling projected light and suspended fossils that swim above the visitors.

Other galleries, representing the Ice Age, have full-wall murals, allowing an immersive experience. Highlighting the glacial Lake Agassiz and more recent chronologically than the fossil galleries, at only 12,000 years old, it was important that this gallery looked and felt completely different than the Late Cretaceous marine fossil galleries that house the other main part of the Centre’s collection. This is achieved not only by use of a different color palette, but also by displaying the collections posed on the ground rather than swimming above the visitor, creating a visual distinction between the eras of life that have made this location home over the eons.

The
Result

Renderings created as part of this study have been used for fundraising to help make this new Centre a reality.

ProjectsCanadian Fossil Discovery Centre