The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, located on the site of the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, is one of the largest aviation museums in Canada. The collection includes examples of aircraft and artifacts ranging from bush planes to transport, military, private and commercial aircraft. The new building blends the requirements of an aircraft hangar with a museum and showcases the organization’s wideranging collection as well as the stories and histories the objects reveal. The new building provides a dynamic exploration of the excitement of flight, and includes interpreted themes of bush planes, passenger and cargo aircraft, and military and commercial aircraft.
The building is visually lightly clad and appears to gently hover above the ground. Its shape, height and planning is both inspired and informed by the immediate airport context. Supported on a concrete foundation, the structural steel skeleton is skinned with metal panels and glass that act as an architectural expression of aircraft construction. Where the visitor interfaces and touches the building, wood accents relate to the experience of an older wood framed aircraft.