Malahat Skywalk & Visitor Centre

Malahat, BC

An exciting tourism project on Southern Vancouver Island, this project is an accessible outdoor recreation structure. The single-storey Visitor Centre contains a café and features mass timber and light wood frame. From there, an accessible 650m-long treetop walk leads you onto a spectacular gentle spiral ramp, taking you up 30m to a lookout with stunning views of Finlayson Arm and the distant Coast Mountains. The primary structural system consists of glulam columns with steel X-bracing all around the perimeter. Outriggers from these columns create a 600m-long spiral walkway transporting visitors to the top of the structure and access to the viewing platform. A galvanized steel central spiral staircase provides emergency egress. This project aims to protect and enhance the ecological values of the park, collaborate with First Nations, balance public use with ecological values and connect visitors to the park’s natural values and cultural heritage.

Winner of the Canadian Wood Council Structural Innovation Award in the 2021-22 Wood Design Awards!

Images by Hamish Hamilton

ClientAspire by NatureDesignASPECTArchitectMurdoch & Company Design Assist ContractorKinsol Timber SystemsStatusCompleted, 2021