First Nations Garden Pavilion

First Nations Garden Pavilion in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by Saucier + Perrotte, 2001

Recipient of a 2002 Governor General's Medal in Architecture, Saucier + Perrotte's First Nations Garden Pavilion is not much more than an undulating roof and two enclosures - exhibition and orientation space at one end, public washrooms and meeting space at the other - but it is a suitably minimal intrusion in the Montréal Botanical Garden.

The pavilion is part of the First Nations Garden, a permanent commemoration of the great peace of Montreal of 1701 and a cultural exhibition of the first inhabitants of North America. The pavilion covers about 2% of the garden, acting like a porous border between the Garden's two halves (spruce and maple). What enables the pavilion to be both unobtrusive and act like a filter is the decision to place the majority of the exhibition outside, in heavy-duty displays covered by the concrete roof. As well, portions are located underground, even some displays straddling the ground plane.

Materials are left in an unfinished state, such as the poured-in-place concrete of the roof (exposing the rough wood formwork), the wood screen of the enclosure seen at left, and corten steel in some walls. The rusted steel edge of the curving roof is such a detail, making the line of the roof more explicit while fitting into the natural surroundings, particularly in autumn when the leaves change to orange.

In selecting this project for a Governor's award, the jury was impressed by the integration of the structure with the landscape, but the integration of architecture and interpretive display impressed them even more. Tracing the first inhabitants history up to the present day, the diverse exhibitions are helped by the linear arrangement of the pavilion and the outdoor setting, where the visitor can experience the artifacts in direct contact with constant of all inhabitants.