With regeneration being the primary theme the architectural design, the external lines of the building were designed to evoke the "devastations of war," with the building appearing to emerge from a "scarred landscape".
 The angular building was designed to appear as if it was "emerging from the Ottawa River.
The highest point of the building rises 24 metres (79 ft) off the ground, and faces towards the Canadian Parliament Buildings, and Peace Tower.

A 20,500 square metres (221,000 sq ft) self-seeding green roof, which connects to the surrounding parkland and riverfront, is also situated on the rooftop of the building.
The green roof was designed into the museum building in order to reflect the building's larger theme of regeneration; with green rooftop intended to appear as nature fusing with ruins, showcasing the process of regeneration.
The green roof also provides the building with some sustainability benefits; being a economical and efficient solution for stormwater management in the area, providing energy savings, and providing air pollution remediation.
The roof was designed to mimic the urban development of the area, with the western portions of the rooftop closer to the rural areas of Ottawa designed to blend in with the surrounding parkland, while the eastern portion closer to downtown Ottawa features sloped concrete slopes that provide visitors a view into the museum from the rooftop.

Nearly the entire southeastern façade of the building is covered in glass, providing people outside the museum a view of some of its items on display in the LeBreton Gallery, an open-storage exhibition space in the building.
Near the top of the building's walls are a series of small windows that spell out "lest we forget/n'oubilons jamais" in Morse code.
The exposed concrete board-form exterior is fitted with cast-in-place insulated concrete wall panels.
Conversely, the entrance of the building is fitted with aluminum frames; with the canted curtain wall facing Parliament Hill.
With regeneration being the primary theme the architectural design, the external lines of the building were designed to evoke the "devastations of war," with the building appearing to emerge from a "scarred landscape".  The angular building was designed to appear as if it was "emerging from the Ottawa River. The highest point of the building rises 24 metres (79 ft) off the ground, and faces towards the Canadian Parliament Buildings, and Peace Tower. 
A 20,500 square metres (221,000 sq ft) self-seeding green roof, which connects to the surrounding parkland and riverfront, is also situated on the rooftop of the building. The green roof was designed into the museum building in order to reflect the building's larger theme of regeneration; with green rooftop intended to appear as nature fusing with ruins, showcasing the process of regeneration. The green roof also provides the building with some sustainability benefits; being a economical and efficient solution for stormwater management in the area, providing energy savings, and providing air pollution remediation. The roof was designed to mimic the urban development of the area, with the western portions of the rooftop closer to the rural areas of Ottawa designed to blend in with the surrounding parkland, while the eastern portion closer to downtown Ottawa features sloped concrete slopes that provide visitors a view into the museum from the rooftop.
Nearly the entire southeastern façade of the building is covered in glass, providing people outside the museum a view of some of its items on display in the LeBreton Gallery, an open-storage exhibition space in the building. Near the top of the building's walls are a series of small windows that spell out "lest we forget/n'oubilons jamais" in Morse code. The exposed concrete board-form exterior is fitted with cast-in-place insulated concrete wall panels. Conversely, the entrance of the building is fitted with aluminum frames; with the canted curtain wall facing Parliament Hill.
Canadian War Museum