Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Brackish was the lead landscape architect on a team with DIALOG Design, Acre Architects, and Shannon Webb-Campbell, one of three finalist teams in the International Design Competition for a new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia as part of a Waterfront Arts District. Guided by an ambitious brief, the proposal envisioned a gallery whose entire first floor, along with the outdoor public space, formed the ‘Peoples’ Gallery’ – an open, accessible, and flexible public space. The landscape design for the site is organized by both the site’s hydrology and the movement of people where the gallery structure and Harbourwalk connection meet in an ‘eddy’. The public open space features a daylighted lost river, living seawall, and ‘tidal quilt’ of salt marshes, aimed at creating opportunities for habitat and a new, resilient shoreline. This new landscape proposes a departure from the wood boardwalk which dominates the rest of the Halifax Waterfront, while maintaining a strong relationship with its context.

Location
Halifax, NS

Client
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal
Build Nova Scotia

Team
Acre Architects
DIALOG
Shannon Webb-Campbell