“The architecture does not compete with the collection—it supports it, elevates it, and creates space for quiet awe.”
Javier Zeller, Canadian Architect
April 2025
Canadian Canoe Museum
Project Feature
A new home for the world’s largest collection of paddled watercraft, the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario is a purpose-built, mass timber facility shaped by story, landscape, and collaboration.
Designed to reflect the spirit of the canoe, the museum offers a deeply immersive and reflective visitor experience—earning a cover feature in Canadian Architect and a spot on TIME’s list of the World’s Greatest Places of 2025.
“We knew from the beginning: this had to be more than just a place to display canoes. It needed to reflect their meaning and invite people to experience those values firsthand.”
Staff Highlight
Michael Gallant
Design Principal
As Design Principal at Unity, Michael Gallant led the design of the Canadian Canoe Museum’s new facility, drawing inspiration from the canoe’s form, its connection to water, and the stories it carries. His design balances reverence and innovation, creating a space that honours the collection while welcoming community, movement, and discovery.
As the driving force behind Unity’s design direction, Michael sets the creative tone for the studio while guiding project teams through complex, multi-stakeholder processes, and brings deep experience across civic, cultural, and institutional work.
Michael approaches design as a journey of understanding. He draws energy from listening to clients and finding ways to translate their aspirations into lasting, meaningful architecture.
Careers
We collaborate daily to tackle complex challenges for our clients and communities, utilizing our unique passions and perspectives to drive meaningful change – for this we need the right individuals that are prepared to confront these challenges and opportunities that come from them.
Construction Progress
Kitchener Indoor Recreation Complex
Steel is rising and mass timber is now in place at the Kitchener Indoor Recreation Complex, a 189,600 sq. ft. Net-Zero Carbon facility redefining municipal recreation in Ontario. Delivered through an Integrated Project Delivery methodology, the project brings together regenerative design principles, accessibility, and multi-generational programming under one roof. With major features like a FIFA-sized soccer pitch and aquatic centre, the Kitchener Indoor Recreation Complex is quickly taking shape as a model for future-ready civic infrastructure.