4 years of Build Design and Fabrication Materializes Last week as RAM Opens Its doors
Edmonton, Alberta – October 9, 2018 – Last week saw over 24,000 visitors stream through the doors of the Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) for the first time as the much-anticipated institution opened to the public on October 3. As principal fabricator, kubik spent the last four years of the seven-year project embedded with the RAM and the other partners of the gallery design team offering; design build, fabrication and project management expertise to many of the intricate and complex galleries and exhibitions throughout the 127,700 square metres (419,000 square feet) building. Sam Kohn, President of kubik commented, “our significant connections to vendors and specialist tradespeople, along with our extensive experience in large scale fabrication projects bringing Human History and First Peoples content to life, allowed us to take on a wide scope of activities and projects within this massive enterprise.”
The museum includes 24,990 square metres (82,000 square feet) of exhibition space – twice the size of the former museum. The wide-ranging collection and research activities maintained by the RAM demonstrates its dedication to collecting, preserving, researching, interpreting, and exhibiting objects of interest that capture the rich history of Alberta. There are more than 2.4 million objects in the Royal Alberta Museum collection with more than 5,300 objects on display throughout the newly invented galleries.
kubik provided design-build for 3 of the 7 featured galleries and was principal fabricator for another 2. The scope of kubik’s work included base build fit-out, exhibit fabrication, showcases, and lighting for a significant portion of the project including the newly created interactive Children’s Gallery and the admission-free space dedicated to the Manitou Stone, an object of great spiritual significance to the Indigenous peoples in Alberta and Saskatchewan. kubik’s overall contribution included over 6000 custom mounts, laying three miles of fibre for the AV infrastructure, and over 4000 graphics from backlit panoramas to case object labels.
Alberta’s Premier Notley officially opened the RAM, hosting a celebration that included an Indigenous blessing and the dramatic unveiling of two bronze mammoth sculptures that are a focal point of the museum’s vast, light-filled lobby. Notley commented, “Alberta is a province full of compelling stories. The Royal Alberta Museum gives Albertans the opportunity to live in and share those stories, told from many perspectives, including those of Indigenous communities. These stories will provide us all a greater sense of the people, places and identity of Alberta and are an important contribution to our cultural landscape.”