NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Advanced Manufacturing Program

The National Research Council’s Advanced Manufacturing Program (AMP) strives to aid in the development and adoption of efficient new manufacturing technologies and processes in order to advance Canada as a forerunner on a global scale. The Winnipeg AMP facility is a state-of-the-art research-based manufacturing facility designed for innovation in the high-tech automotive and aerospace industries in Canada.

Designed in joint-venture with Diamond Schmitt Architects, the building’s massing and elevation respond to both the internal programmatic requirements, the contextualizing of the building in the surrounding agricultural and industrial area, and the expression of the pilot plant as the public’s opportunity to glimpse into the inner workings of the facility.

The material palette clads the structure with glass, metal and ceramic panels to express openness and transparency, a reflection of the high standard of collaboration and technical excellence that the NRC portrays to the public.

To express the motion inherent in the automotive and aerospace realms, the exterior materials reflect the ever-changing prairie sky and landscape of windswept native grasses. Underscoring this movement further, the pilot plant is clad with a secondary “kinetic screen” that lifts at the corner providing the public with a view of the building’s inner workings. Made from over 30,000 stainless steel tiles with flexible connections, the screen responds to the wind patterns and activates the building exterior. Branded subtly with the NRC-CNRC lettering, the screen contributes to the building’s playful stoicism and is a tribute to the facility’s innovative approach to research.  

The building’s design is based upon a flexible organization system that maximizes its ability to adapt to future research programmatic needs, with a common entry at ground level in the center of the plan that will foster interaction and collaboration. Natural light has a strong presence in the building, facilitated by large windows, clerestory windows, interior glazing, and sidelights where possible. The lab program is organized around a series of interior daylit streets that provide visual identity and a diversity of experiences for tenants, researchers and collaborators.