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John Labatt Visual Art Centre: Bringing the Outdoors Indoors
by Cindy Tu
If you ask any faculty members, staff, or even students at the University of Western Ontario (Western),
65% of them probably don’t know how to get to the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre and most likely 80%
of them have never been in the building. I wonder if it’s because the Visual Arts Centre is one of the
furthest buildings from the heart of campus (figure 1) or maybe it’s because the look of the building is
so different from the rest of the Collegiate Gothic architecture on campus, that it gives this impression
that no one is allowed to go in without permission. As Christine Dirks from the London Free Press stated
in “Visual Arts Building Designed to be Noticed” from November 8, 1998, that “Although the facade’s
abstract form may seem more concerned with its own shape than its role on campus... the building is
more thoughtful [of its surroundings than you think]”.
The John Labatt Visual Arts Centre (figure 2) on Perth Drive in London, Ontario at Western was
designed by one of Canada’s greatest architects, Raymond Moriyama, in 1993. Moriyama is the
founder of Moriyama & Teshima Architects based in Toronto, Ontario. Some of Moriyama most
recognized projects in Canada include: the Canadian War Museum, Toronto Reference Library, and the
Ontario Science Centre. There’s no doubt in my mind why Western ended up choosing Moriyama, he’s
a famous architect designing major buildings in Canada (see figure 3 for an earlier proposal of the
Visual Arts Building)!
Some of the strongest aspects of Moriyama’s style of design are that he really considers the
surrounding environment where the building is planned to be built and is mindful of the sole purpose of
the building. Let me help put this into better perspective, Moriyama was well aware that this building is
only for visual art students. Based on that fact, his design decisions focused on important elements that
artists can truly appreciate. One of the top elements is bringing natural light indoors.
One way of bringing natural light indoors is to carefully consider the placement of the building. In this
case, Moriyama designed the building to have the main corridor of the building lie along the east-west
axis. Why is that important? There are two reasons. The first reason is to capture the best light for the
drawing and painting studios. This is accomplished with large windows along the north side of the
building. If you ask drawing and painting artists, they’ll tell you that north light will not create the harsh
shadows that are difficult to work with. The second reason is because the sun sets in the west.
Moriyama designed the building along the east-west axis to allow the sunlight to shine through the east
entrance, the main corridor, and through the north entrance towards Thames River. Essentially,
Moriyama wanted to continue bringing natural light indoors, even when the sun is setting. For those that
know the Visual Arts Centre like I do, you’re probably thinking, what north entrance? Well, Moriyama
initially intended to have a back entrance at the end of the hallway, where the ArtLab wall is currently
located. He wanted to take advantage of the view of the Thames River.
Another element where Moriyama considered the surrounding area in the design of the Visual Arts
Centre was the shape of the façade. The Tyndall stone concave piece of the façade actually relates to
the convex wall of the neighbouring building, Middlesex College (figure 4). Again, Moriyama was
mindful of the building being made for students, so he created this large blank façade acting like a blank
canvas/projector screen. Moriyama commented in the London Free Press that he hoped to eventually
see art projected onto the wall to utilize the building inside and outside.
The draw bridge located at the front entrance was designed to create an illusion that the building is like
an artist’s castle (figure 5). Once you walk through the entrance and into the main corridor of the
building, you enter a space that feels as though you’re actually outdoors. Moriyama calls this the
“friendly alleyway”, which brings the outdoors indoors (figure 6). This alleyway was intended to be the
main gathering area for artists to display and view other artists’ work.
Throughout the alleyway, you’ll notice a couple of overhead openings where large sunroofs admit
natural light indoors, reflecting off of the windows (figure 7). Moriyama adds to this sense of an inside,
outdoor street scene by designing overhead rooms that have traditional casement windows, mirroring
an image of an actual street view of office buildings. One of my favourite parts of the windows are that
they were not only designed for looks, but they actually open!
In terms of the rest of the interior space, it has a very industrial/factory-like quality. The walls and
ceilings are naked and the ventilation and plumbing are exposed in their natural state. Many may say
that this style of interior space would allow artists to better display their work however they want, without
limitations in order to create their own environment. For instance, the following images are of unknown
artists’ work that utilized the exposed parts of the building (figures 8-10).
When walking into the Visual Arts Centre, one constantly lingering annoyance in the air is the sound of
the ventilation system that operates 24/7. Outside, at the back of the building, there is a tower-like
structure (figure 11). That tower is where the vents are placed to emit toxic gases from the studios
located throughout the building. If you carefully examine the tower, it is designed to resemble a skeletal
structure of the University College tower (figure 12). The original intention was to feature an art work at
the top of the tower, but I guess there was a change of plans. It never happened.
Overall, Moriyama did put a lot of thought into this building and factored in a lot of elements when he
designed it. He considered the placement, surrounding area and most importantly what artists need
when he carefully arranged the interior spaces of the building. The end goal was bringing as much
natural light into the building. Moriyama brought the outdoors indoors.