• Blackwell
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Approach
  • Services
  • Clients
  • Portfolio
  • Careers
  • Contact
Blackwell

The Leaf at Assiniboine Park

← →
  • Category

    Public Facilities and Institutions

    Fabric Structures

    Specialty Structures

  • Completed

    2022

  • Location

    Winnipeg, MB

  • Area

    84400 square feet

  • Architect

    KPMB as Design Architect in association with Architecture 49

  • Program

    The Leaf: Canada’s Diversity Gardens is part of the Assiniboine Park revitalization project in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This project aims to celebrate culture and botanical diversity and will welcome visitors to one of Canada’s largest year-round biodiversity gardens. The 84,000 square foot facility features several zones exhibiting different climates and environments, including indoor spaces like the Tropical, Mediterranean, and Butterfly biomes, and outdoor spaces like the Cultural Mosaic Gardens and the Indigenous Peoples’ Gardens. The proposed article will explore the most prominent structural features of the facility.

    The desire for long spans and a transparent envelope for the biome spaces led to the selection of a tensioned cable net roof, clad with an array of ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) pillows. The flexibility of this cladding system allows for a very light weight roof structure, despite spans of up to 150 feet. The cable net follows a spiral pattern, selected to maintain a relatively constant span for the ETFE cushions. At its centre, the roof is supported on a 100-foot tall steel diagrid tower. The tower is constructed of round HSS and pipe elements framing between cast steel nodes. Due to the long cable spans, the cable forces are immense. The structure, which is almost entirely exposed, has been conceived to address these large forces gracefully.

  • Other Details

    LEED Gold, Tensile

Public Facilities and Institutions

St. James Park Mass Timber Pav...
Wong Dai Sin Temple
Elementary Teachers’ Fed...

LEED Platinum

Residence for The Sisters of S...
Prince Arthur’s Landing

Adaptive Reuse

Discovery Landing

Fabric Structures

Harbourfront Centre Stage

Tensile

The City of St. Louis Park Rec...

Tensile

Bronte Park Amphitheatre

Tensile

Specialty Structures

St. James Park Mass Timber Pav...
Ontario’s Celebration Zo...
Prince Arthur’s Landing

Adaptive Reuse

NCFS Longhouse & Headquar...
Customs and Immigration Buildi...
Cornell Plantations’ Brian C...

LEED Gold, International

Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram - Email us at info@blackwell.ca!

© 2023 - Blackwell Structural Engineers