Killbear Park Interpretive Centre
Bold form reflects site’s rugged terrain and environmental stewardship
View of the west elevation shows how the building perches on the rock ledge. An overhang at the south-west corner [right in photo] and interior sun shades mitigate solar heat gain
by Gordon Stratford .Shifting, sloping and canting, the Killbear Provincial Park Visitor Centre pays homage to its site, a windswept outcropping of the Canadian Shield, its granite bedrock exposed by the glaciers at the end of the last ice age.
Part of a network of venues that commemorate the natural, cultural, historic and recreational values of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast the Centre focuses on the park’s fragile ecology and the need for environmental stewardship. The 1,100-square-metre facility is located in Noble, Ontario, 250km north of Toronto on a peninsula jutting out from the steep coastline of Georgian Bay.
HOK was retained by Ontario Parks to design a centre that not only celebrates nature, but also respects it. The design team responded by creating a facility that is strongly connected to its site in form and organization, enhancing the visitor experience through the introduction of natural light, and the careful orchestration of views.
The building incorporates innovative sustainable design strategies that are practical and educational: the use of Georgian Bay as a heating and cooling system, storm water runoff that maintains wetlands of indigenous plant species, and recycled and recyclable building materials.
The building program includes exhibition areas, exterior viewing areas, a theatre, cafeteria, research offices, staff areas and reception lobby.
Navigating the interior encourages visitors to reexamine their experiences of the landscape. The circulation path, with its shifting floor plates, mimics the rugged terrain and leads visitors on a continuous route, without stairs or elevators, through two levels of exhibits, support spaces and a film theatre. Compressed pathways between walls of concrete and a set of landings defining important viewing points heighten the experience of movement and sense of exploration. The curatorial route winds upon itself to capture the distant view of the peninsula’s southern shoreline, an important geological feature highlighted in the signage.
Continuous perimeter glazing allows for a majestic view of the surroundings. Window openings direct the visitor’s gaze to specific rock surfaces or tree trunks. A low window, for instance, highlights a view to Precambrian rock and the lichens on its surface; a clerestory window frames a nearby conifer.
In keeping with the Centre’s unusual site and its role as an interpretive centre, HOK undertook a preconstruction environmental study, with a public review, to minimize the environmental footprint and maximize environmental stewardship.
In turn, the site was developed with an eye to optimizing stormwater management and respecting its natural features, which were key determinants in the placement and design of access roadways, parking for cars and buses, and landscaping. These were all located to preserve as many existing trees and vegetation as possible. Wetlands were created to hold and filter storm runoff and slowly release water back into the natural landscape. Low-maintenance plant species native to the area were used throughout.
The building melds with the site by stretching out parallel to a series of rock folds that cascade towards the water’s edge, while its volumes twist and overlap like the rocks themselves. The east and west elevations lean away from the water’s edge like an eastern white pine gnarled by the wind.
To fit with the natural rock formations and take advantage of key views toward the water, the building is oriented along a north-south axis. A deep overhang at the south-west corner and interior sun shades along the west elevation mitigate solar heat gain.
The nearby Georgian Bay waters provide a cost-effective, energy-saving source for heating and cooling. A closed loop of condenser water using food-grade glycol sits 5m below the water’s surface. This loop feeds 11 high-efficiency heat pumps inside the building and eliminates the need for a supplementary boiler or cooling tower.
Another aspect of the energy conservation strategy is the adoption of interior temperatures outside the norm, with the circulation and exhibition area being less tightly controlled than the administrative areas. As well, during winter months, little-used areas can be closed and kept at a reduced temperature.
Recycled and recyclable materials were used extensively during construction. Low-maintenance, recyclable standing-seam zinc panels with a preweathered finish cover the walls and roof. Zinc, a lightweight building material, requires less structural steel for support than other cladding systems and is maintenance free.
Stucco panels designed as a rain-screen assembly, linoleum and sealed concrete flooring, exposed architectural concrete-block walls and energy-efficient, high-performance window systems enhance the building’s environmental friendliness and environmental stewardship. Cast-in-place concrete uses concrete containing blast furnace slag to reduce embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
The centre officially opened in June 2006.
Credits
- Architect: HOK, Toronto
- Structural Engineer: Blackwell Bowick Partnership Ltd., Toronto
- Electrical Engineer: Mulvey + Banani, Toronto Mechanical Engineer Smith and Andersen Consulting Engineering, Toronto
- Construction: M.J. Dixon Construction, Mississauga, ON
- Landscape Architect: Schollen & Company, Toronto
- Photos: Tom Arban Photography, Toronto
Materials
- Structure: Cast-in-place concrete slab and steel framing, steel roof deck on open web steel joists with R20 polystyrene insulation; metal studs with painted CGC gypsum board and 75mm mineral fibre insulation, R12.6
- Exterior: Low-maintenance, recyclable standing-seam zinc panels with a preweathered finish cover the walls and roof; stucco panels designed as a rain-screen assembly; energy-efficient, high-performance window systems
- HVAC: Heat exchanger and water source heat pumps
- Interior: Marmoleum linoleum by Forbo and sealed concrete flooring, light fixtures by Lightolier, toilet sensors by Sloan, faucet sensors by Zurn