Library Buildings around the World

Teeple Architects, Toronto, ON – Canada
http://www.teeplearch.com
Libraries:
City of Edmonton, Clareview Recreating Centre and Branch Library, Edmonton, AB – Canada 2013
joint venture with Arndt Tkalcic Bengert Architekts (http://www.archatb.com)
Silver LEE rating
This facility is designed to promote safe interaction and connectivity within the community while providing expanded recreational,
educational and community support services. The transparency of the main façade allows the interior activities of the building to be
visually accessible and inviting to passers-by. The building creates a new and emerging civic realm, and reflects the goals of the
Edmonton Master Plan for the neighbourhood, providing state-of-the-art recreation and education facilities to the community.
(Teeple)
John M. Harper Library and Stork Family YMCA, City of Waterloo, ON – Canada 2011
joint venture with Garwood-Jones & Hanham Architects
Brought together as one integrated facility, this library and recreation centre creates an enhanced community realm for the City of
Waterloo. The two, seemingly disparate, program elements are designed to interact and elevate one another through a number of
strategic architectural gestures. A light-filled galleria is the interstitial space between the two programs and creates a visual porosity
between library and recreational users. The galleria mitigates the friction that inherently exists between a contemplative space and
an active space. The Library program includes study lounges as well as a flexible group learning environments, while the YMCA
component includes gymnasium and pool facilities with associated change rooms. (Teeple)
More than the smell of primer paint and sawdust, it’s the light that makes the biggest impression on walking into the new YMCA
and library in Waterloo.
Smooth, grey walls stretch to vaulted ceilings and an open-concept design help the sun stream through skylights and bounce through
the building, set to open in phases in September.
A railing along the rim of the second floor surrounds what will be the fitness centre, where workers test and assemble elliptical
trainers and stationary bicycles equipped with individual televisions as well as iPod jacks and USB plugs.
The Fischer-Hallman Road North location — funded by the city, the YMCA and Waterloo Public Library — will house the Stork
Family YMCA and the John M. Harper District Branch Library.
The $22.3 million project is expected to come in on budget and will be celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October.
“It’s really a connecting space … for a fairly large district of Waterloo,” said John Haddock, chief executive officer of the YMCAs of
Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo. The multi-use facility offers “easier access to multiple leisure, recreation and health services,
which really creates a healthier community.” After the closing of the Lincoln Road location in 2005, this facility marks the return of
a YMCA fitness facility to Waterloo — but Haddock said they never really left and maintained 15 program sites during the past six
years.
“There’s no kind of marquee spot” right now, said Haddock, but the new Stork Family YMCA will give the organization a new
façade.
Designed by Toronto’s Teeple Architects, the building’s 68,000 square feet are laid out in an inviting, asymmetrical shape. A large
basketball court made of reclaimed wood beckons from left of the entrance. A large track encircles it from above. Down the hall and
beneath an overhead walkway, raw wood stretches along what will be the YMCA’s front counter.
From the accessible pool — complete with a chairlift and ramp — to the building’s LEED Silver certification, everything about the
facility’s design is contemporary. Bits of grass from the green roof peek over the sides from the parking lot, and all the lighting is
energy-efficient. The change-room lights are controlled by motion sensors, and the fluorescent lights are square because they are
T8s, a power-saving version.
Instead of heading down a long corridor to the pool area, turn right, and 22,000 square feet of library space lies ahead. Bright
magenta accents break up the mostly grey interior, which the project’s manager, Alan McGregor, said was the most controversial
point of the design process.
“Colours were probably the biggest problem we had,” he said Tuesday while showing off the completed but empty pool.
The original designs for the exterior of the building included more magenta to break up the grey. McGregor said some of the
stakeholders were thrown off by the vibrant hue, so they opted for neutral silver instead.
Otherwise, he said plans have gone ahead smoothly, but in his five years overseeing the project, the hardest task was finding the
space to build it.
That hurdle was tackled early, when the University of Waterloo agreed to lease the approximately three-hectare location to the city
for a $1 a year in exchange for $9 million in services such as roads, watermains and sewers for its northwest campus.
In addition to that trade, the city kicked in $13.6 million, while the YMCA added $8.2 million and Waterloo Public Library
contributed $530,000.
Once the joint facility opens, Haddock said he’s “looking forward to all of the parts working independently, but working in the
expected manner, serving families and people in the community.” The Record 04.08.11 (http://www.therecord.com)
Early Learning Centre, University of Toronto – Canada 2009
12.500 sqf.
Awards:
Ontario Association of Architects, Award for Excellence
The architecture is intended to embody an enriched range of spatial experiences that spark the imagination, and encourage multiple
interpretations and extended opportunities for play. Two “pods”, spatial units comprised of either infant/toddler playrooms or
preschool playrooms and a shared service core, are separated by multipurpose spaces on each of the facility´s two playrooms floors.
The pods are defined by metal “petals” which serve to create a play environment that is both protected and open to the wqorld
beyond. Petals mark play pits in the infant playrooms, while defining lofts in the preschool rooms. These create low protected areas
that are tucked away from the activities of the rooms, as well as overlooks from which to survey the terrain. These lofts are maked
by clerestories that visually connect the payroom to rooftop play spaces. (Teeple)
Langara College Library, Vancouver, BC – Canada 2007
80.000 sqf.
Awards:
Holcim Acknowledgement for Sustainable Design SAB Award 2008
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