issue two: may 2009 - Halcrow

Entrancing entranceHuman rightstake centre stageetal bit into frozen earth on 19 December 2008, as primeminister Stephen Harper turned the first clods of earth onMthe Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) site inWinnipeg, marking the start of an ambitious scheme.The Halcrow Yolles structural team faces the mammoth challenge ofconverting the architect’s sculptural vision – described as ‘a symbolicapparition of ice, clouds and stone set in a field of sweet grass’ – intoglass, concrete and steel.Designed as a series of shapes and forms, the CMHR eschews allreferences to traditional building construction. This departure fromconvention has pushed the project team to devise novel methodsof working, using the latest in three-dimensional software to planinternal spaces and calculate floor loads.bridges. Rising almost 100m above the exhibition halls and galleries,the prismatic Tower of Hope will offer panoramic views of the city.Given the green light in 2003, the CMHR is both the first nationalmuseum to be built outside the national capital region and thefirst new institution planned since 1967. Due to open in 2012, thissculptural feat of engineering aims to be the largest museumdedicated to human rights in the world.Museum from northBreaking the architectural whole into manageable, buildable chunksor structural concepts, the project team considered each segment aspart of a complex engineering process.Most of the building’s steel supports will be hidden from public view,and with few of the steel spans presenting an easy design task – manyare curved, unique and up to 40m long – the team faces a raft ofvibration issues.Visitors to the £137 million museum will be able to wander through awinding kilometre of interactive experiences, connected by a series ofMuseum – South Forks(images courtesy of CanadianMuseum for Human Rights)