Royal Alberta Museum designs unveiled

The public has been given one week to comment on four design proposals for the new Royal Alberta Museum revealed Thursday by the provincial government.

All four companies designs for the structure, to be located at 103A Avenue and 99th Street in downtown Edmonton, incorporate strongly rectilinear features. The bold perpendicular lines echo those of the CN building next door.

The publichas until Aug. 24 to comment on the designs which are postedon the Alberta Infrastructure website. Those comments will be incorporated into deliberations by the panel that is assessing the proposals.

The panel which includes representatives from the City of Edmonton, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the University of Calgary and the Alberta government is to announce its decision in September.

The four finalist firms were chosen from seven that sent in applications in June after the province put out a request for qualifications to design and build the new $340-million building.

EllisDon Construction Services, Graham Design Builders, Ledcor Design Build and PCL Construction Management made the short list, and theirvisions include star-power architectural names like Jack Diamond and Raymond Moriyama.

"The exterior design of the new Royal Alberta Museum must be such as to compel Albertans and our guests to visit and experience the facility for the first time," Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett said in a news release.

The museum is currently located at Government House in Glenora. The province scrapped plans four years ago to redevelop the existing museum partly because it was determined it would be too impractical to build an addition at the current site.

The government plans to continue using the current site of the Royal Alberta Museum for Government House and a new residence for the Lieutenant Governor.

The new building is expected to open in 2015.