Butterflies beneath a sawtooth roof
Kuehn Malvezzi Realize Insectarium in Montreal
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This insectarium by Kuehn Malvezzi is the latest addition to a natural science museum complex in Montreal. In a glass building with a shed roof, visitors can learn about the insect world.
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The new building at the heart of the Canadian metropolis complements Biodôme and Biosphère, two museums of natural science, as well as the botanical gardens and planetarium.
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In collaboration with local architects Pelletier de Fontenay and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte Architectes, plus landscape planners Atelier de Balto, the Berlin studio carried the day in the international competition. Their design combines diverse exhibition spaces and habitats in a rectangular structure and one annexe.
© James Brittain
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To the east, an enormous butterfly garden greets visitors and those thirsty for knowledge, gently guiding them along a slight downward slope towards the entrance to the insectarium. The main building is designed as a greenhouse. On the transverse facades, the four crests of the roof rise in sawtooth fashion, giving the building its characteristic look.
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The tour through the museum starts in the central hall in the subterranean base area. From here, visitors set out on a journey for the senses through a labyrinth and cave-like spaces. Accompanied by crawling, creeping and fluttering, they continue into the exhibition rotunda, which is also sunken and reveals itself from outside as a planted dome.
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Inside, display cases featuring preserved insects grace the sprayed-concrete walls of the space, which is 10 m tall, and another ramp leads up to the Grand Vivarium. This area is glazed and flooded with light; it accommodates several microclimates that act as natural habitats for living insects. This level and the insectarium are rounded out with a studio with production areas as well as space for events.
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Above all, the architects demonstrate how much they value sustainability. In the greenhouse, orientation and materiality ensure the best possible use of the sunlight that enters the complex. Heat and water recovery, geothermic technology and mechanical planning elements complete the efficient, bioclimatic concept.
Architecture: Kuehn Malvezzi Architects
Client: Stadt Montréal
Location: 4581 Sherbrooke St E, Montreal, Quebec H1X 2B2 (CA)
Structural engineering: NCK
Associated studios: Pelletier de Fontenay, Jodoin Lamarre Pratte Architectes
Building services engineering: Dupras Ledoux
Landscape architecture: atelier le balto
Civil engineers: Genie+
Consulting sustainability (LEED certification): CIMA+
Guidance & information system: Kuehn Malvezzi mit Double Standards
Execution & construction supervision museology: La bande à Paul
Consulting greenhouses: Capital Greenhouse
Tree protection: Nadeau Urban Forestry
Gallery
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