Sunny exterior view of Audain Art Museum showing trapezoidal panelized prefabricated wood roof with laminated strand lumber (LSL) and parallel strand lumber (PSL) providing sheathing and structure

Audain Art Museum

Location: Whistler, B.C.
Completion: 2016
Photo credit: James Dow, courtesy of Patkau Architects

Size
5,203 square metres

Structural Engineer
Equilibrium Consulting Inc.

Engineered Wood Fabricator
BC Passive House, Whistler Forest Products

Structural systems
Hybrid / Other
Light frame
Low rise
Panelized
Prefabricated

Project materials
Decking
Laminated strand lumber (LSL)
Parallel strand lumber (PSL)
Plywood
Siding

Bold geometric design draws visitors in, while fitting into pristine alpine landscape

Although a short stroll from the heart of Whistler Village, the private Audain Art Museum—which houses philanthropist Michael Audain’s art collection—is tucked into a forest of tall trees and meadow. The minimal building design supports both the alpine setting and the artwork contained within, a tranquil nod to wood that does not distract from the displayed works of Emily Carr, Jack Shadbolt, EJ Hughes and Gordon Smith.

A hybrid-wood design where nature and art become one

The 5,203-square-metre building is cloaked in dark metal that has the shadowy effect of disappearing within its forest backdrop. The continuous use of western hemlock cladding on the building’s exterior and interior maintains its connection with nature. Its distinctive “hockey-stick” shape accommodates and never competes with its wooded location, a solution that eliminated the need to remove trees from the site.

Visitors enter on an elevated walkway surrounded by tall trees before entering under the building’s dramatic L-shaped wooden archway, immediately greeted by Coast Salish artist Xwalacktun’s tall sculpture. Inside the entry, light pours through a skylight, casting sunlight and shadows off the vertical tongue-and-groove wood, creating an immediate feeling of tranquillity. The linear wood feature continues around the building’s periphery on both the cladding and the soffits and the interior walls and ceiling, which can be viewed from the outside through long walls of glass. The gallery rooms are a minimalist white.

Prefabricated panelized wood roof for an alpine climate

The building’s pitched roof is designed to withstand a winter climate that can deliver 500 centimetres of snow, and the structure itself was built a storey above ground to accommodate the marshy ground of a creek floodplain. Because of extreme weather, efficient construction that would seal the building quickly was crucial. The architects used computer software to design a steel frame to support prefabricated wall and floor panels. Prefabricated engineered panels, 2.4-metres wide and up to 16.5-metres long, were trucked in for the roof. Roof sheathing was built from laminated strand lumber and the rafters from parallel strand lumber.

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