OMA wins Quebec museum expansion competition

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has won the competition to design a major expansion to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ).

The 12 000 m2 building, a "cascade" of three overlapping boxes will be OMA's first built project in Canada.

OMA's MNBAQ expansion, which will be linked underground with the museum's three existing buildings, is located on Quebec's main promenade, Grande-Allée, adjacent to St. Dominique Church. The design aims to integrate it with the surrounding park and initiate new links with the city.

The three stacked galleries decrease in size and housing contemporary exhibitions (50m x 50m), the permanent contemporary collection (45m x 35m) and design/Inuit exhibits (42.5m x 25m).

Asending from the park towards the city they will form a "dramatic cantilever" towards the Grande-Allée and a 14 m-high Grand Hall, welcoming the public into the new building.

The project will be executed by OMA's New York office in collaboration with Provencher Roy + Associés Architectes, and is expected to be finished in late 2013.