October 2, 2010

HALCROW YOLLES

Winnipeg’s Museum of Human Rights will include 18,000 square metres of concrete.

FEATURE | Concrete & masonry

Concrete integral to construction of Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg

DAN O’REILLY

correspondent

WINNIPEG

Even on the very darkest coldest days last winter, construction crews building the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg continued to pour and install concrete.

“We were pouring about 2,000 cubic metres in January, February, and March,” said Todd Craigen, construction manager with PCL Constructors Inc., which is overseeing the building of this structure in the heart of the city.

“But then the construction force here is fairly resilient. We seldom close down unless the weather conditions are deemed to be at the dangerous point. Tower cranes will shut down when it’s -25°C.”

Designed by Albuquerque, N.M.-based architect Antoine Predock, the 24,154-square-metre museum is designed to promote human rights education and understanding. Toronto-based Halcrow Yolles is the structural engineer.

At the base of its museum are its four “roots.”

From there, visitors pass through a series of levels including a Great Hall, a gallery area, and a Hall of Hope, eventually reaching its 328-foot Tower of Hope overlooking the city.

Resting on a foundation of 141 concrete caissons and 378 pre-cast pillars, the museum is an intricate mix of concrete and structural steel sections, said Craigen.

The concrete component includes the core area and elevators, the Hall of Hope and the roots, which are about 929-square-metre quadrants designated for uses such as classrooms, teaching facilities and a theatre.

Construction started in April 2009 and by the time the building is finished in the spring of 2012, about 17,863 square metres of concrete will have been poured, said Craigen.

“At this point, we’re at about the 14,000-metre mark,” he said

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