When the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, opened its Harrison McCain Pavilion, it introduced a glass-framed invitation to the city. Designed by KPMB Architects with lighting by Dot Dash, the project redefines what it means for a museum to belong to its community. This vision has now earned the pavilion the LIT Lighting Design Awards in LED Interior Lighting Design.
The concept was bold in its simplicity: design the building not just for those who step inside, but equally for those passing by. Some cultural spaces often feel closed off or reserved for insiders, but the pavilion turns the experience outward as its louvered façade and floor-to-ceiling transparency transform the street into a front-row seat, where the artwork is just as visible from the sidewalk as it is from the gallery floor.
To make this radical accessibility possible, lighting had to carry the architecture’s promise. High-output wall washers, tucked between ceiling louvers, illuminate the main gallery wall with uniform precision. Every artwork, regardless of scale, medium, or future rehangs, receives a perfectly calibrated glow, while pedestrians outside enjoy a clear, democratic view. Beneath the soaring pavilion, a responsive grid of accent lights expands and contracts with the building’s structure, ensuring that sculpture or painting finds its spotlight anywhere it lands. And just as importantly, light here isn’t only solemn or functional: the café welcomes with a constellation of playful suspended globes. This gesture extends the gallery’s inclusivity into an everyday gathering space.
This approach checks the boxes of sustainable design as abundant daylight reduces reliance on artificial light, while occupancy and daylight sensors, paired with a rigorously minimized fixture count, keep energy consumption in check. The building glows when it needs to, dims when it doesn’t, and in doing so becomes a model for thoughtful museum lighting in the 21st century.
Photo Credits: Younes Bounhar
