NAC - The Interventions
“A glass and steel addition re-orients the building to the city with a new front door, announcing an address and also revealing the creative activity within, in a way that the original precast concrete building never did.” (Diamond Schmitt Architecture, National Arts Centre Rejuvenation)
The curtain walls embellished with LED displaying advertisements related to the NAC attracts passengers nearby on Elgin street.
The Vestibule
The vestibule on Elgin street contains a red carpentry similarly used in the public spaces of the original building. Where glass is not used, white paint is introduced. A low ceiling gives visitors this sensation of being crushed, a feeling that extends when you enter the brand-new Equator Coffee. However, the café compensates with multiple table and seats as well the curtain wall opening the area.The Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson Staircase
As visitors continue marching in the atrium area, the Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson staircase gives its back to the viewer where under it is an information desk as well as another hidden staircase that leads to the box office on a lower level. The ceiling height above the white flight of stairs finally liberates the visitors from the claustrophobic feeling of the entry as a void is formed. The ceiling above the stairway replicates the equilateral triangles of Lebensold though DSA’s triangles are made from Douglas Fir wood coffers. The Susan Glass & Arni Thorsteinson staircase with a wood finish serves as a place for visitors to work in need be, but also to relax. It had also been used as a performance space where the curtain walls allow people to view the Château Laurier.
This page has paths:
- The National Arts Centre: Reflecting on its Past and Present Maegen Sargent