Library Buildings around the World

polished aluminum reflects the Strathcona Building while a series of punched windows, evoking the music rolls of antique
mechanical pianos, bring light into the smaller spaces inside. The glazed front façade, facing Sherbrooke Street, allows exquisite
daylight to permeate the library and conference spaces, creating interior environments conducive to learning and research for the
visitors and occupants of the Faculty of Music. (Saucier)
Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners, Toronto, ON – Canada
Now: In January 2010, Shore Tilbe Irwin merged with the renowned architectural practice Perkins+Will
Shore Tilbe Perkins Perkins+Will has announced a merger with Toronto-based Shore
Tilbe Irwin & Partners. Established in 1945, the 80-person Canadian firm works across many sectors where Perkins+Will already
has a strong presence—including healthcare, education, and institutional—and also has a strong presence in sports and recreation
facilities, an area into which Perkins+Will has shown interest in expanding. Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners has completed a number
of YMCA buildings and community recreation centers across Canada. In a press release on the acquisition, Perkins+Will CEO Phil
Harrison said, “the Shore Tilbe Irwin merger supports our strategy to grow by targeted acquisition, as it represents a pooling of
expertise that will bring significant benefits to our business.” The corporate takeover will bring Perkins+Will’s North American
office count to 19, and it will be the U.S.-based megafirm’s second office in Canada. – Canada. Architect 13.01.10
(http://www.architectmazine.com)
http://www.shoretilbeperkinswill.ca
now: http://www.perkinswill.com
http://ca.perkinswill.com
Libraries:
Edmonton Public Libraries, Meadows Community Recreation Centre and Library, Edmonton, AB –
Canada 2014
joint venture with Group2 Architecture, Edmonton, AB (http://www.group2.ca)
The Meadows Community Recreation Centre and Edmonton Public Library will provide year-round recreational and cultural
community opportunities for the surrounding local and regional neighborhoods. With a focus on creating relationships between
indoor and outdoor programs, the facility emphasizes transparency to create an active space that is open and welcoming during
every season of the year. Indoor amenities include a twin-pad ice arena, an aquatic complex that includes a recreation pool and slide
as well as a competition and therapy pool, two-level fitness area with an indoor track, multi-purpose gymnasium, community multipurpose
rooms and a 15,000 square foot branch library for the Edmonton Public Library. Complementary outdoor amenities
include a leisure skate area, multi-use courts, an exterior library reading garden and amphitheatre, spraypark, and beach volleyball
courts.
Inspiration for the project was taken from the Alberta landscape with the concept of the Dominion Grid as a theme for organizing
and ordering the site and its components. Architectural ideas explore the building as topography, reflecting the Alberta landscape
through an undulating roofscape whose diverging slopes present opportunities for clerestory glazing and the provision of natural
light to the interior. Natural materials are emphasized, creating an environment that is visually appealing and also healthy for
building occupants. This project is targeting LEED Silver certification as mandated by the City of Edmonton and includes
sustainable features such as a vegetated roof, efficient mechanical systems, re-use of waste heat for the arena spectator seating area,
efficient pool filtration systems and reduced water consumption. (Teeple)
Brooklin Library and Community Centre, Whitby, ON – Canada 2010
Project Size: 43,000 sq. ft., Project Value: $12.4 million, Completion Date: 2010, Client: The Town of Whitby/Whitby Library
A remnant forest in the historic village of Brooklin, Ontario provides the setting and inspiration for this district Library and
Community Centre. A series of low-slung shed roofs hover over the forest floor, framing courtyard spaces and views into a dense
forest of century maples, oaks and ash trees. The Library and post office frame an entry court that accomodates towering sugar
maples and which looks back to the village's main street. The "forest hall", a long heavy timber structure which encloses the
gymnasium and the entry lobby, reaches back into the wooded site offering views and a cool dappled light. A senior's centre and
youth program rooms look onto a west facing timber porch and a landscaped side yard. Throughout, heavy timber structures,
roughfaced limestone and brick recall the village's early agrarian and industrial architecture. (Shore)
Clarence-Rockland Library, Clarence-Rockland, Ontario – Canada 2008
Square Footage: 6,000
The Clarence Rockland Library replaces an outdated branch library and is a 6,000 square foot addition to an existing Catholic high
school. Located in the heart of a rapidly growing community east of Ottawa, this new library is part of a larger community and
cultural center initiated through a partnership between the City of Clarence Rockland, the Library Board and the local YMCA.
This facility greatly expands services and programs available to the high school, while serving the larger public. It includes generous
study, reading spaces and stack areas as well as a large information playground for children. The design is based on a delivery model
that de-emphasizes traditional desk-based systems allowing staff to ‘roam’ the floor space and offer greater point-of-use assistance.
Provision for automated systems including self check-out units enhances this model. Extensive mobile and fixed-display units help
actively market the various collections. At the heart of the space is a large double height reading room with a distinctive wood slat
ceiling and limestone clad fireplace offering a warm and inviting environment for its users. The library’s open concept enhances the
interactive nature of its spaces, establishing a vibrant new focal point for the whole community to enjoy. (Perkins Will)
Hazel Mc Callion Academic Learning Centre and Library, University of Toronto, Mississauga
Campus, Toronto, ON – Canada 2007
Client: University of Toronto at Mississauga, Area: 100.000 sqf., Budget $ 22.000.000
The Academic Learning Centre and Library is a 98,000 sq. ft. facility on four floors at the north end of the UTM campus. The
building is a state-of-the-art facility that contains UTM’s permanent collection of bound volumes, serials, maps and archival material
as well as an extensive digital information retrieval commons. The building also offers over 22,000 sq. ft. of safe, inviting study space
nearly half of which on the first and second levels. The organization of the permanent collection into compact storage shelving in the
heart of the building allows for generous perimeter spaces to be given for study and work. The main vertical and horizontal
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