If there was any doubt, Canada’s new canoe museum beside the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway is going to be a world-class museum.
On Thursday (November 23), The Canadian Canoe Museum announced that GSM Project, one of the world’s leading exhibit design firm, will be helping to create exhibits and one-of-a-kind visitor experiences at the new facility.
GSM Project was founded in 1958 in Montreal (it designed the cars and logo for Montreal’s metro system in 1962) and now also has offices in Dubai and Singapore. The company has designed exhibitions and visitor experiences for museums, science centres, and more both in Canada and around the world.
The company was the lead designer of the new 40,000-square-foot Canadian History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History — the largest exhibition about Canadian history ever developed.
Also in Canada, GSM Project recently completed the Human exhibition at the Montreal Science Centre, the Museum of Ingenuity at the J. Armand Bombardier Museum in Valcourt in Quebec, three of the galleries at the new Canada Science and Technology Museum, and the Canada Goose Arctic Gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Internationally, the company’s projects include The Alaska Gallery at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and Indian Heritage Centre, both in Singapore.
“The GSM Project team members will bring their international experience, a deep affinity for Canadian heritage, and an appreciation of our unique collection and its incredible potential to the table,” says Jeremy Ward, Curator at The Canadian Canoe Museum.
“Together, we aspire to strengthen the museum’s connections with communities across the country and are confident that the result of our work will be something very special that will engage our visitors in new and surprising ways. We cannot wait to get started.”
GSM Project will work with The Canadian Canoe Museum to create visitor experiences in the exhibition galleries of the new building, which will comprise 10 to 12 indvidiual galleries in around 21,000 square feet of space, as well as the 28,000-square-foot collections centre, which will feature more than 500 full-sized watercraft stored on individual mounts and arranged on racking systems, as well as artifacts.
At the Peterborough Lift Lock location, the museum’s entire collection will be on site (rather than mainly in storage as is the case at the current Monaghan Road location) and will be totally accessible as part of the visitor experience.
The Canadian Canoe Museum chose GSM Project following a nationwide request for proposals and an in-depth selection process.
“A great community deserves a great museum,” says Yves Mayrand, President and Chief Creative Officer of GSM Project. “The renewed canoe museum will serve as a nucleus not only for Peterborough but also for all those who are passionate about canoes, Canada’s waterways, and that love of the outdoors that unites us all,.”
“Like so many visitors before us, we have fairly fallen in love with The Canadian Canoe Museum, and we look forward to helping this institution’s talented and dedicated team realize the bold vision they have for this transformation.
The new Canadian Canoe Museum is being designed by an award-winning team of heneghan peng architects (Dublin, Ireland) with Kearns Mancini Architects (Toronto, Canada).
For more information about GSM Project including more samples of the company’s work, visit gsmproject.com. For more information about the new Canadian Canoe Museum. visit
www.canoemuseum.ca/museum-on-move/.
