The latest entry in the elite coolest libraries on the planet club comes from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The competition-winning design from Snøhetta and DIALOG rings in the new while melding into the surrounding communities.
The new design will realize the city’s vision for a technologically advanced public space for innovation, research and collaboration while embracing the city’s diverse urban culture and unique climate.
Upon entering the library, visitors encounter a lobby awash with natural light. Your eye is 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 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 provide a new outdoor civic spaces within the city
The library is scheduled to open in 2018.
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