Glazing Canada's military heritage

摘要

The glazing installation at the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, is not the largest contract Transit Glass and Aluminum has tackled, but the unique design of the structure, and the equally unique role glass plays make this project a hallmark for the company. Scheduled to open this fall, the national museum is a tribute to the Canadians who served their country in war and peace-keeping time, featuring 45,000 square feet (4200 square metres) of exhibit space dedicated to Canada's military past. The architectural design by Moriyama & Teshima Architects in a joint venture with Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects, echoes many themes from Canada's military past. The shape of the structure itself resembles a World War II bunker complete with live grass growing from the top of the building. A simple concept, but there was nothing straightforward about the glazing and metal work on this project, literally, as Bill Byers of Transit Glass and Aluminum describes the perplexity of the curtainwall design. "A majority of the curtainwall was designed with compound angles in adjoining walls creating oblique corners," says Byers.