TORONTO.- Hariri Pontarini Architects and Snøhetta have been awarded the design for the new Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. The client is Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Gaming.

The new Ontario Science Centre will be a 400,000-square-feet destination and feature state-of-the-art exhibition and educational programming on Toronto’s waterfront. It includes a signature 220,000-square-foot new building and the rejuvenation and integration of the Pod complex and historic IMAX Cinesphere perched over the water at Ontario Place, a public facility that opened in 1971.

The following is a statement from the design team:

“We were inspired by the site’s power as a place of connection between the city and Lake Ontario, between sky and the water, and as a threshold for the imagination: a place to spark curiosity and wonder. The constellations of our night sky became a metaphor for connecting all of the elements of the new Science Centre, including the existing five Pods and the Cinesphere at Ontario Place. The program is expressed as a series of connected molecules or modules attracted to each other to create meaningful experiences inside and out. On the exterior, a tracery of scalloped and arced silhouettes organize to form this constellation inside. The journey of moving up and through these connections makes science visible, tangible and fun.

The public realm around the new Ontario Science Centre is envisioned to extend the experience within Ontario Place and the waterfront. The new landscaped plazas, pathways and moments of ecology are designed to support both everyday life as well as large-scale exhibitions and cultural programming tied to Ontario Place.”