Abbott Brown Architects has designed Highland Village Interpretive Centre as a portal to the history of Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The immersive living museum takes visitors along a path through successive historic periods and cultural contexts. Material shifts, in rough-sawn wood and corten steel, highlight transitions to exhibits, a viewing platform, and doorways from inside to outside.

Flipping the tradition of Scotland's black houses, the museum's wooden interior is outward-facing, featuring local cedar cladding positioned edgewise and spaced apart.

Steeply pitched gable roofs lie across all four sections of the structure. The augmented roof thickness, noticeable at the eaves, is reimagined in metal, reminiscent of the thatch roofing used by the Gaels in Scotland.

This project has been longlisted in the cultural project category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Studio: Abbott Brown Architects
Project: Highland Village Interpretive Centre
Credits: Campbell Comeau Structural Engineering, Dillon Consulting, CBCL Civil Engineering, Gordon Ratcliffe Landscape Architects, Habit Studio, Maxime Brouillet Photography, Brilun Construction