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Ever since the Daniel Libeskind-designed expansion to the ROM was proposed in 2001—it became the Micheal Lee-Chin Crystal upon opening in 2007—the face of Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum was forever changed. With the $135 million addition completed, the ROM is looking to build on the much-debated success of the Crystal, with a public realm project to improve animation of the Bloor Street Frontage.
Originally proposed in 2014 as part of the museum’s centennial legacy efforts, the Welcome Project re-imagines the Museum’s main frontage on Bloor West with an upgraded public plaza. Encompassing nearly 13,500 ft² of exterior space, the Siamak Hariri, Planning Partnership, and Ronald Holbrook & Associates-designed plaza will act as an “outdoor gallery” with plantings, outdoor seating, and an open-air stage for live music and theatrical performances overlooking Philosopher's Walk.
Following the re-opening of the heritage Weston entrance on Queen’s Park in 2017, renovation of the public space kicked off in Spring 2018, along with the revitalization of the 1914-built west façade.
Lining Bloor Street, the Reed Family Plaza—name for lead donors Nita and Don Reed—is comprised of several triangular-shaped planters, with bench space perpendicular to the Crystal's elevation and Bloor Street; allowing for seating and gathering spaces with a greater sense of intimacy.
Fronting the north-western corner of the museum, the Helga and Mike Schmidt Performance Terrace—again, named for its lead donors—is a stone-framed gathering space elevated from street level, which will see musical and theatre-based performances. The space is shaded by the overhanging Crystal structure, and will be further sheltered in the coming years as trees recently planted in silva cells begin to flourish.
Speaking to the goals of the space, Siamak Hariri of Hariri Pontarini Architects presented three objectives; "First; creating a space that is welcoming; this whole area designed in a way to get 'raked' into the ROM. Second; creating a space that is robust, flexible, and accommodating… it's set up a few steps up from the sidewalk so it keeps that connection to the street, but at the same time you feel that separation… in those kinds of spaces you can find a million different uses… Third; porosity, this idea that you have a visual and emotional connection with the museum, creating a real sense of what's going on inside when you're walking past."
The porosity element specifically was echoed by ROM Director and CEO Josh Basseches—"What does it mean to be a great museum of the 21st Century? We want this to be a place where people gather, sit and meet—whether or not they're coming to the museum—we want to be a piece of the urban fabric"—he told us. Basseches also told us a number of ideas are being explored to further integrate the museum into the broader public realm to meet that goal of a '21st Century Museum', however he noted that those plans were still in an ideation stage.
First Nations groups kicked off the event's performances with a drum circle, followed by mezzo soprano opera singer Jennifer Routhier giving a rendition of 'L'Amour est un Oiseau Rebelle' from Carmen by Bizet, beautifully proving the performance concept of the space.
To introduce the space to the Toronto public, the Helga and Mike Schmidt Performance Terrace will see programming every Saturday and Sunday from 12-3 PM through September.
Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.
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| Related Companies: | B+H Architects, CCxA, Hariri Pontarini Architects, LRI Engineering Inc. |
