Michael Lee-Chin Crystal ROM

The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal was part of Renaissance Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) – a renovation and expansion project that gave Toronto this distinctive new symbol back in 2007.

The extension provides 9,290 sqm of additional exhibition space, as well as a new entrance and lobby, three restaurants and a shop. The building’s five intersecting crystal shapes were inspired by the crystalline forms contained in the museum’s mineralogy galleries. An atrium and connecting areas form the sixth crystal, closing the gap between the new and old buildings.

Brand: Permasteelisa, Gartner

Architect: Studio Daniel Libeskind & B+H Architects

Engineer of record:: Halsall Associates

Owner and client:: Royal Ontario Museum

The project

The concept

New York architect Daniel Libeskind designed the crystal-shaped extension to complement the existing historical building. Remarkably, the new building has no straight walls, and all the panels are inclined on one or two planes. The crystals have a rolled steel section skeleton construction, which is covered by horizontal cladding panels with ribbon windows.