The Building
The dominant feature of the building is the dome, which rises 25.3 meters (83 ft) from the ground, and has an outer diameter of 27.7 meters (91 ft). The dome structure is layered, with an outer waterproofed casing of reinforced concrete 4 centimeters (2.5 inches) thick, and an inner concrete dome that is insulated by a layer of urethane foam.
The projection dome was separate from the outer dome, and was 23 meters (75.4 ft) in diameter. Made of curved aluminum sheets, it was lap jointed to create a continuous spherical surface. The sheets were painted white and perforated with 2.5-millimeter (0.1 inch) holes, which were designed to let sound through and reduced echoes in the cavernous space.
The building had two main entrances: a main entrance at ground level that faced east onto Queen's Park Drive, and a connecting passageway from the Royal Ontario Museum from what used to be the Mineralogy Gallery. Admission to either facility allowed visitors to see exhibits in both buildings, though a Planetarium show cost extra.
Read more about this topic: Mc Laughlin Planetarium
Famous quotes containing the word building:
“I am not building here a statue to erect at the town crossroads, or in a church or a public square.... This is for a nook in a library, and to amuse a neighbor, a relative, a friend, who may take pleasure in associating and conversing with me.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“I love art, and I love history, but it is living art and living history that I love.... It is in the interest of living art and living history that I oppose so-called restoration. What history can there be in a building bedaubed with ornament, which cannot at the best be anything but a hopeless and lifeless imitation of the hope and vigour of the earlier world?”
—William Morris (1834–1896)