Calgary Central Public Library

Project Details

Project Description

[Updated description]

FROM AIA:

2020 — On a former brownfield infill site in rapidly expanding Calgary, this new library plays a vital role and can accommodate more than twice as many annual visitors as the facility it replaced. Fitting seamlessly into the complex urban condition surrounding it, the library boasts a generous 75,000 square feet of entry plaza and outdoor amphitheater that allows its lively programming to spill outside.

The library is wrapped in a striking triple-glazed façade composed of a modular, hexagonal pattern that echoes the library’s efforts to welcome all visitors. Variations of the pattern are scattered across the building’s curved surface in alternating patterns of fritted glass and aluminum, giving rise to shapes that evoke familiar forms. The whole building is encased in the same pattern, allowing every side to operate as the “front” of the library, and the same visual vocabulary plays a significant role in the library’s new visual identity and wayfinding inside.

A light rail line crosses the site, following a curved path from above to below ground and serving as a dividing line between two neighborhoods. As a response, the team lifted the main entry over the encapsulated train line while gently terraced slopes rise up to the heart of the building. The geometry of the façade was carved away, revealing an expansive wood archway that warmly greets visitors and references Chinook cloud arches that are common to the region. Made entirely from planks of western red cedar from British Columbia, it ranks among the largest freeform timber shells in the world.

Inside, the program is organized on a spectrum ranging from fun to serious, and the library’s more engaging public activities are featured on the ground floor while quieter study areas can be found above. At street level, multi-purpose rooms ring the building to enhance connectivity with the outside, while the mezzanine hosts the children’s library and its numerous playhouses.

A bastion of light and activity, this new library has re-energized a spirit of culture, learning, and community in Calgary.


2019 — On a former brownfield infill site in rapidly expanding Calgary, this new library can accommodate more than twice as many annual visitors as the previous facility. Fitting seamlessly into the complex urban condition surrounding it, the library boasts a generous 75,000 square feet of entry plaza and outdoor amphitheater that allows its lively programming to spill outside.

The library is wrapped in a striking triple-glazed façade composed of a modular, hexagonal pattern that echoes the library’s efforts to welcome all visitors. Variations of the pattern are scattered across the building’s curved surface in alternating patterns of fritted glass and aluminum, giving rise to shapes that evoke familiar forms. The whole building is encased in the same pattern, allowing every side to operate as the “front” of the library, and the same visual vocabulary plays a significant role in the library’s new visual identity and wayfinding inside.

A light-rail line crosses the site, following a curved path from above to below ground, which had served as a dividing line between two neighborhoods. In response, the team lifted the main entry over the encapsulated train line, while gently terraced slopes rise up to the heart of the building. The geometry of the façade was carved away, revealing an expansive wood archway that warmly greets visitors and references Chinook cloud arches that are common to the region. Made entirely from planks of western red cedar from British Columbia, the library ranks among the largest freeform timber shells in the world.

Inside, the program is organized on a spectrum from fun to serious. The library’s more engaging public activities are featured on the ground floor, while quieter study areas are found above. At street level, multipurpose rooms ring the building to enhance connectivity with the outside, while the mezzanine hosts the children’s library and its numerous playhouses.

A bastion of light and activity, this new library has reenergized a spirit of culture, learning, and community in Calgary.

Project Credits
Project: Central Public Library, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Client: Calgary Municipal Land Corporation
Design Architect: Snøhetta
Architect of Record: DIALOG
Structural Engineer: Entuitive
Electrical and Lighting Engineer: SMP Engineering
Mechanical Engineer: DIALOG
Civil Engineer: Parsons
IT/AV: McSquared System Design Group Inc.
Fire and Life Safety: Jensen-Hughes/Sereca Fire Consulting
Acoustics: FF&A Acoustics
Building Envelope and Waterproofing: Building Envelope Engineering Inc.
General Contractor: Stuart Olson
Landscape Architect: Snøhetta
Curtain wall and Exterior Envelope Design Assist, Fabrication, and Installation: Ferguson Corporation
Exterior Wood Soffit Fabrication and Installation: StructureCraft
Atrium and Interior Woodwork Fabrication and Installation: Executive Millwork
High-Slag Concrete Mix Design Supply, Precast Fabrication and Installation: LaFarge
Concrete Formwork: Stuart Olson
Steel Trusses and Skylight Structure, Miscellaneous Metals: Norfab

[Previous description]

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Today, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation unveiled DIALOG and SNØHETTA’s competition-winning design for Calgary’s New Central Library. Following a two year process of community engagement, the new design will realize the city’s vision for a technologically advanced public space for innovation, research and collaboration at the intersection of Downtown Calgary and East Village.
The design team embraced the city’s diverse urban culture and unique climate, striving to create the right library for Calgary by establishing a vibrant, welcoming and accessible public space in the heart of this rapidly expanding metropolis. Inspired by the nearby foothills, the site is transformed into a terraced topography that rises up and over the existing Light Rail Transit Line crossing the site. The lifted library, with an open entry at the heart of the site, allows for a visual and pedestrian connection between East Village and Calgary’s downtown. The entry, framed by the wood-clad arches that reference the ‘chinook’ arch cloud formations common to Alberta, becomes a gateway to neighboring communities and provides a new outdoor civic space within the city.
Upon entering the library, visitors encounter a lobby awash with natural light. Your eyes are drawn up through the sky lit atrium where clear visibility of the library’s public program and circulation along the atrium’s perimeter serve as a wayfinding strategy from the main entrance and on each floor. The Library program is organized on a spectrum, starting with more engaging public programs on the ground floors, and spiraling up to quieter, focused study areas on the third and fourth floors. The façade utilizes a unique geometry and distribution of clear and fritted glass openings to control desired daylight levels for the interior spaces. Dramatic, highly transparent zones attract public interest to activities inside, while closed areas provide more focused study spaces.
The encapsulation of the existing Light Trail Train is currently underway, and the new Calgary Public Library is expected to be completed in 2018.