Creative Learning Centre

MUSEUM LONDON

Location: London, Ontario 
Gross Area: 410 m² [4,400 s.f.]

project summary

The new Creative Learning Centre, now called the Centre at the Forks,  is an all-ages maker and multipurpose events space that serves as an active incubator for artistic and community engagement. Enabling structured learning activities directly connected with the gallery’s collection, art-making programme, and artists-led events, the Centre facilitates informal experiential learning through community access to maker tools and resources.

Design Concept

The design concept proposes a strategic intervention within the museum to activate underutilized space and interconnect the existing gallery arrival experience with the adjoining Forks of the Thames River.  The Centre is organized as a sequence of cascading interconnected spaces and directed views that connect and extend from the existing internalized lobby to the river beyond. A new monumental window provides views from the lobby across the active maker space and river and helps to establish an indoor terrain that descends to connect with an outdoor sculpture garden at the water’s edge. 

Elliptical ‘Pod’

The elliptical ‘pod’ serves as an iconic element visible from the exterior and inside and separates the workshop and activity spaces.  Movable panels allow the pod to transform to support a wide range of adjoining activities – from support services for maker activities to fundraising events and gallery openings.  The Pod’s upper level provides a viewing gallery that overlooks the activity/ performance space and serves as a  day-to-day meeting space directly connected to the existing lobby.