Moriyama & Teshima Architects Moriyama & Teshima Architects
  • Profile
    • Our Firm
    • People
    • Awards
    • Timeline
    • News & Press
  • Services
    • Architecture
    • Interior Design
    • Master Planning
    • Feasibility Studies
  • Projects
    • All
    • Educational
    • Arts & Cultural
    • Civic & Commercial
    • International
    • Competitions
    • Master Plans
    • Additions & Renovations
  • What’s New
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Newsletter Sign-up
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Accessibility

Projects — Civic & Commercial — Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat

Project Description[+]

Overview

Prominently sited on Ottawa’s ceremonial Sussex Drive, the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat was conceived by the Aga Khan as a secular sanctuary for peace, diplomacy and global pluralism. Moriyama & Teshima collaborated with the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki to design and deliver this technically rigorous building. Exterior walls of white crystallized glass impart a soft, luminous quality akin to fine porcelain and appear to float above a recessed base of black granite. Enclosed within the walls are two symbolic meeting spaces—the glass-roofed Atrium, inspired by natural stone crystals and Islamic geometries, and the open-air Courtyard, based upon traditional Char Bagh walled gardens. A stunning hexagon-patterned Jali screen in the Atrium creates an ever-changing interplay of light and shadow, while the floor of Canadian maple adds visual warmth and a domestic note of welcome. The Ismaili Imamat received a 2012 Governor General’s Medal for Architecture.

Project Details

Client

Imara (Wynford Drive) Limited

Size

86,111 SF

Team

Ted Teshima
Diarmuid Nash
Norman Jennings
C. Po Ma

Amanda Gilbert, Ajon Moriyama, Chris Yen, Elias Saoud, Emmanuelle van Rutten, Farhad Rahbary, Hany Rizkalla, Louis Lortie,  John Blakey, Joni Inouye, Shawn Geddes, Ronen Bauer, Roy Gill, Susana Saiz

 

Awards

Governor General’s Medal for Architecture
OAA Design Excellence Award
OAA People’s Choice Awards

Related Projects

  • Aga Khan Museum
  • Ismaili Centre

Download PDF

Sharing

 

A stunning hexagon-patterned Jali screen in the Atrium creates an ever-changing interplay of light and shadow, while the floor of Canadian maple adds visual warmth and a domestic note of welcome.

Canadian War Museum

Previous — Canadian War Museum 

Ottawa, Ontario
North East Campus Project, Saint Mary’s University

Next — North East Campus Project, Saint Mary’s University

Halifax, Nova Scotia
News — Holiday Hours
News — Studio Update – Business Hours Return to Normal
Press — MTA’s Maya Desai speaks on the impact of COVID-19 on design for The Globe and Mail and GlobalNews Radio
News — Studio Update – Business Hours
News — Black Lives Matter