Rix Centre for Ocean Discoveries

The award-winning scallop-shell roof structure is designed using 12 arched, stressed-skin shells roughly 12 feet wide and up to 50 feet long. The Parallam timber bottom chords of the shells, each laminated into a 110 foot radius, are supported on elliptically shaped façade columns. The 20 foot tall façade complete with shaped timber muntins and custom aluminum castings creates a glass wall framing an unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean.