LAUSR

When Canada’s National Arts Centre opened in 1967, the Brutalist architecture style of its era yielded a fortress for the arts. As Canada celebrates its sesquicentennial, a $110M (Canadian) architectural rejuvenation process is transforming the inward facing fortress into alluring beacon at the heart of the capital. Expanded public spaces enveloped in transparent facades form multiple pre-function spaces that visually spill into one another to convey the constant activity of Canada’s incubator for the performing arts to the patrons within and the surrounding city. The desire for visual transparency, the building’s designation as a National Historic Site of Canada, and need for simultaneous programming of the performance and pre-functions spaces provided no shortage of acoustic challenges.