Manitoba Museum Galleries Renewal
Manitoba Museum Galleries Renewal
Following the success of the Alloway Hall Expansion and Renewal, Bockstael Construction was engaged as the Design-Builder for the renewal of 60% of The Manitoba Museum’s existing galleries – Phase 2 of the Museum’s Bringing Our Stories Forward Capital Campaign. The project was divided in to three sub-phases and included some of the Museum’s most notable exhibits, including the Nonsuch Gallery, Grasslands Gallery, and the Bison diorama, along with the creation of the brand-new Winnipeg Gallery
The Museum’s treasured exhibits and artifacts were renewed and refreshed, and many were updated with new cultural narratives with a special emphasis on stories related to Indigenous peoples and new waves of immigration to Manitoba. The exhibits provide a new modern museum experience, complete with immersive and advanced media technology. Bockstael’s design-build team included Stantec (Base Building Design), AldrichPears Associates (Exhibit Design), Taylor Group and 3DS (Exhibit Fabricators), as well as New Media Production, Software Programming, A/V Integration, and Theatrical Lighting entities, with responsibilities that encompassed all aspects of the building and user experience transformation.
The transformation of a culturally iconic building like The Manitoba Museum required a skillset well beyond what is common in construction. We had to learn the Museum’s language, translate the curators’ visions into built form, manage a global supply chain that included consultants, fabricators and installers from England, Vancouver, and New York (and manage the added complexity and risk created by the Covid-19 pandemic), and implement elements of agile management to provide the Museum with the flexibility required to maintain operations. Work also involved deep renovations to the base building systems, including life safety, accessibility, and extensive architectural upgrades.
