Experiential abstractions within the Centre are continued throughout the curatorial route, defined by a series of sloped floors of varying widths. Compressed pathways between walls of concrete block, a set of switchbacks, manoeuvering around a vertical shift in the floor plates, and a set of landings defining key viewing points along the route, heighten the experience of movement by creating a sense of exploration. The gentle hike over the interior terrain physically takes the visitor through a series of contiguous spaces while experiencing the three plates of the interpretive plan and culminates in an elevated view through the tree canopies out to Georgian Bay. Navigating the terrain of the building encourages the visitor to revisit and re-examine their experiences within the landscape. Isolation creates opportunities to extract an array of details within the structure of land- scapes. Isolating moments within landscape establishes an environment of specificity, moving from passive viewing into engaging study. An almost continuous line of glazing around the entirety of the building makes a synthetic horizon line and allows a continu- ous view of the surroundings. Amongst the opportunities for passive viewing and more careful study of the environment are carefully choreographed moments between land- scape and glazing where location, size and proportion of glass focus specifically on rock surface, tree trunks, tree canopies and sky. A low window forces the visitor’s view down- ward to Precambrian rock and the lichens on its surface. A small elevated window simply frames the sky. A clerestory window frames the bird habitat of a conifer shaped by power- ful bay winds. g
The continuous curatorial route is defined by a series of sloped floors of varying widths
Killbear Visitor Centre. Nobel, Ontario
Client:
Ontario Parks and Ministry of Natural Resources
Architects: Urbana Architects Corp Structural: Blackwell Bowick Partnership Ltd Mechanical: Smith and Andersen Consulting Engineering Electrical: Mulvey & Banani International Inc. Civil: J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd. Landscape Architect: Schollen & Company Inc. Exhibit Designer: Terry Heard Designers Interpretive Planner: Verburg and Associates Inc. / Apropos Planning Contractor: M.J. Dixon Construction Ltd
Francesco Martire holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, and a Master of Architecture both from the University of Toronto. He is currently working as an Intern Architect and a Landscape Architect at Urbana Archi- tects (an HOK affiliate) in Toronto.
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architecture and land
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