A Look Inside the New Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum at SFU’s Burnaby Campus

The Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum, located at Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Burnaby campus, opened to the public after its inaugural exhibition kick off in September.

The new 12,100-square-foot landmark institution features an award-winning design by Siamak Hariri, founding partner of Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects (in partnership with Vancouver-based Iredale Architecture), sitting on the grounds of the Arthur Erickson-designed campus.

Placed adjacent to Strand Hall (the first Erickson building on the campus), Hariri took great care when designing the Gibson Art Museum to “respect the existing architectural language.” Hariri and co. pulled it off by keeping with the horizontal plane that carries across the campus, building a long-spined, single-storey structure.

“Erickson blurred boundaries and broke down academic silos and, here, we have a plan that opens onto different program areas that encourage immersive engagement,” Hariri says of building on the same site that bears the signature of the late, revered brutalist architect.

“From the bus loop at one end and the campus at the other, the Gibson becomes a curated path to get to class. Of course, running adjacent is the Ceremonial Walkway, a tree-lined promenade now punctuated by large windows offering views deep into the gallery spaces.”

The Gibson Art Museum design includes a “welcoming hearth” at its centre, an element that Hariri says shapes the experience of the space.

“We wanted the Gibson to feel unpretentious and full of spirit: somewhere between a coffee house and a hangout and a really cool contemporary gallery,” he tells Western Living.

“The wood ceilings and the wood floor and the extension to light and trees in all directions give it the spirit and the warmth—in combination with good art—that allows students to just ‘hang around’ art. The hope is that when they graduate, they realize that the art had a profound effect on them.”