OpenROM: A multi-million dollar Valentine's gift to Toronto

Starting February 20, 2024, when you visit the Royal Ontario Museum, you'll want to enter through the Queen's Park entrance, as you'll be greeted by a crowd lining the Bloor Street sidewalk. That's because the Valentine's gift to Torontonians was announced this morning by director and CEO Josh Basseches, and work will begin immediately on a $130 million, three-year project to revamp the visitor experience.

Royal Ontario Museum photo from Bloor Street and Avenue Road after renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects

The institution, Canada's largest and most visited museum with more than a million visitors a year, has grown in stages at the southwest corner of Bloor Street West and Queen's Park. Its first part was designed by architects Frank Darling and John A. Designed in a combination of Italianate and Neo-Romanesque styles, the Pearson opened on March 19, 1914, near Philosopher's Walk on the University of Toronto's St. George campus.

Original wing overlooking the Philosopher's Walk, photo by Craig White

The building was H-shaped when the first major extension was built, which opened on October 12, 1933. The design by Alfred H. Chapman and James Oxley abandoned the Italianate and Neo-Romanesque style of the first wing for a Neo-Byzantine style. With reference to the historical progress of Western civilization from Rome to Byzantium. Entering from Queen's Park, this golden mosaic-tiled section has been the building's main public face for decades.

Entrance to the Royal Ontario Museum in Queens Park, photo by Craig White

On October 26, 1968, the McLaughlin Planetarium opened to the south, connected to the museum by a bridge over the driveway connecting the street to the courtyard created on the south side of the H. White-domed Brutalist structure Alward and Guinlock. The courtyard was soon filled as work to expand the museum facilities began in the late 1970s, in 1984 the Curatorial Center, designed by Gene Kinoshita and Mathers & Haldenby, opened, and the Queen Elizabeth II Terrace Galleries opened in the space at the same time. H on the north side, facing Bloor Street. (The planetarium, which still operates today, closed in September 1995 following provincial funding cuts.)

Former McLaughlin Planetarium, photo by Craig White

The museum's most notable expansion came in 2007, when the Queen Elizabeth II Terrace Gallery was replaced by the deconstructivist Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, designed by Daniel Libeskind. Controversially, the extension not only ditched the traditional stone and right angles of the original wings, but brought a radically angular and mostly silver aluminum clad addition that appears to have burst out of the ground, hiding parts of the former structure.

Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum, photo by Craig White

The use of the word “crystal” in the title of this addition, along with an early example, led the public to expect more from the glass that covered the new structure, but the light sensitivity of many of the objects displayed in the galleries created their number and size. The number of windows will decrease, and many of those that did through design revisions will eventually be closed. Along with the complex angles of the crystal's walls, the absence of windows on the exterior was considered a source of much controversy.

Another aspect of Libeskind's design that was considered a major drawback was the new main entrance from Bloor Street. Criticized as too narrow and not sufficiently authoritative, this new project is the first to be addressed.

The current Bloor Street entrance to the Royal Ontario Museum, photo by Craig White

The renovations, which will begin soon, will close the area for about three years, as a new entrance along Bloor Street will take place, as well as the renovated lobby and atrium spaces. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, the $130 million will avoid the slope of the current lobby and rise to a new level lobby area, providing stairs and a ramp facing Bloor. The new front steps, ramps and doors will also be placed under a wide canopy that protects the entrance from snow and ice in winter, a problem that closed much of the Bloor Street courtyard after the extreme weather that followed the opening of the Crystal addition. .

Bloor Street front with Hennick entrance after renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects, Royal Ontario Museum photo

Once inside, visitors will find a much larger space with the collections' unique dramatic objects prominently displayed.

Lobby after renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects, Royal Ontario Museum photo

An oculus is cut into the ceiling of the foyer, opening the space to the height of the dramatic dinosaur gallery above. The steel beams that support the distinctive Libeskind structure and are currently hidden in the walls surround the space, both representing the engineering work that enables such avant-garde architecture, as well as expanding the space. Tickets for exhibitions and upper level galleries are available in pocket areas off the main lobby.

A new oculus cut into the ceiling of the lobby after the renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects, photo by the Royal Ontario Museum

Continuing toward the center of the museum, the atrium space, currently illuminated by two diamond-shaped pendant lights, opens completely to the sky through a new diagrid-supported skylight. In the galleries on the upper floors, the wall space facing the atrium is also reduced to increase the view of the collections from area to area.

Hennick Commons, after renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects, Royal Ontario Museum photo

The atrium, like the new Bloor Street entrance, is named after the Hennick Family Foundation, established by Jay and Barbara Hennick, which is giving $50 million to the ROM, the largest contribution the museum has ever received. On the east side of the atrium, a new staircase called the Hennick Commons offers viewing platforms to better appreciate the dramatic architecture, as well as new sloping and practical ramps from the upper to lower floors of Center H. of the east wing, facilitating circulation for those who wish to avoid the stairs.

Hennick Commons, after renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects, Royal Ontario Museum photo

There's more to come inside, and we'll try to return soon with more news about the renovations, but we'll finish this report outside again and look at the corner of Bloor and Queen's Park, designed by Hariri Pontarini with a mirrored pool. Fountain with Dan Eisen of Waterarchitecture Inc. The pool can become a skating rink in the winter, but creates a welcome and welcoming feeling outside the building all year round.

Bloor Street sidewalk after renovation by Hariri Pontarini Architects, image courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum

Besseches said the three-year project is just the start of planned future upgrades to further improve the flow between levels, better display the collections and better connect the museum to the city. . The Royal Ontario Museum will remain open during construction — just remember to enter from Queen's Park.

UrbanToronto will continue to monitor progress on this development, but in the meantime you can learn more about it in our Database file linked below. If you like, you can join the conversation in the related project forum or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

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