Vaughan library to serve diverse community

dailycommercialnews.com
Nov. 11, 2014
By Patricia Williams

A library designed to “educate, excite and empower” the community is under construction at a high-profile site at the civic centre campus in the city of Vaughan north of Toronto.

Designed by ZAS Architects Inc. and being built by Aquicon Construction Co. Ltd., the 36,000-square-foot Vaughan Public Libraries (VPL) facility will be an integral part of the campus on Major Mackenzie Drive.

"The campus is the centre of civic governance," says VPL Chair Margie Singleton. "Having a library at that location is philosophically essential. But there is also a proven need.There has been a lot of development in the northern portion of the city. The library needs to grow with the community."

The estimated $12.7 million, third "resource" library, a short walk from city hall, will service the city's northern district. Unlike some other municipalities, Vaughan does not have a central library. But the new facility will also function as a neighbourhood branch for those who live nearby, Singleton said.

To meet the needs of a diverse community, the VPL adopted a collaborative design approach, by incorporating suggestions gathered from surveys, focus groups and community meetings.

ZAS was retained in October 2012 after responding to a request for proposals.

"The design evolved after many conversations," Singleton said.

The accessible facility, which complies with the city's green building policy, has been designed "to be as open as possible, to ensure future flexibility."

"Public libraries are constantly changing," Singleton said. "The needs of 10 years ago are very different from those of today. We have tried to maintain maximum flexibility and openness with the space."

The interior of the building has been designed to be what the VPL describes as "futuristic yet welcoming."

Features include: flexible, adaptable and easily convertible spaces; specific areas for teens, children, quiet reading, and serious studies; a digital media lab; and ample natural lighting and high ceilings.

An internal courtyard is open to the elements.

The building's exterior features a transparent look, achieved by the use of a collection of concave, semi-mirrored surfaces. The facade reflects the building's surroundings "while suggesting a layered set of interior spaces."

ZAS principal Peter Duckworth-Pilkington said the key element of the design is the open and transparent nature of both the interior and exterior of the building.

"This transparency opens the building up to users and the general public, inviting the community in and connecting the building to the civic centre campus and the established Maple community."

The two-storey space boasts extensive public facilities, beyond the library's collection. LEED Silver is being targeted. Duckworth-Pilkington said the facility will function as a "go-to" meeting place for the community, "moving beyond the traditional notion of a public library as a preserve of accumulated knowledge, to a community building that supports and embraces life-long learning, leading technology, social discourse and interaction."

In its placement within the surrounding context of the campus, the building is also meant to simulate the experience of entering a woodlot.

"The city is known for its preservation of woodlots," Singleton said. "We wanted the library to support that philosophy + hence the windows all around, hence the interior courtyard. We really wanted to build a connection with the natural environment."

Expected to open late next year, the project is being undertaken by a team that includes consulting mechanical, electrical and structural engineers MMM Group and Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc. In terms construction challenges, Duckworth-Pilkington said the project has been designed "as an exacting object, with a unique form, exterior cladding and the detailing befitting an important civic building, meant to last long into the future."

"In this way, the construction team has been challenged to meet the aspirations of the design, resolving complex geometries in three dimensions, and the exacting requirements of a building required to stand the test of time."

Ground was officially broken in late June on the project. Foundations and site works are currently under way.

Annually, VPL welcomes more than 2 million visitors, making it one of the top leisure and information destinations within the city of Vaughan.