Page 101 - AIT0520_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design RDH Architects, CA-Toronto
Bauherr • Client City of Brampton
Standort • Location CA-Brampton
Nutzfläche • Floor space 2.418 m 2
Fotos • Photos Nic Lehoux, CA-Vancouver
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More information on page 128

SPRINGDALE LIBRARY

IN BRAMPTON

A spaceship seems to have landed just 45 minutes
west of Toronto — this is how the inhabitants of Bramp-
ton lovingly describe their new library. It is not the fu-
turistic shape that changes the image of the city, which
is marked by immigration and growth, but the functi-
ons of the public building: its presence strengthens the
community and offers space for learning and playing.
Schnitt • Section

T he word identity-generating probably best describes the new
Springdale Library building. With 175 ethnicities and 70 spoken
languages, the second-fastest growing city in Canada needed a place
where community and integration are not just empty words. With the
new one-storey library building, the team at RDH Architects created
such a place. The 1,858-square-metre, fully glazed building is inten-
tionally visible from the surrounding roads, some of which have five
lanes. However, appearances are often deceptive. The glass façade is
not completely transparent: together with Brandy Peters, an expert in
generative design at the University of Toronto, the architects develo-
ped a system of ceramic frit that was applied to the glass elements.
Due to its properties, this intermediate product of ceramic production
makes it possible to regulate the incidence of light, and additionally
has a decorative aspect. Depending on the amount and intensity of
sunlight, the frit expands or compresses and the vertical pattern
brightens or darkens the interior spaces. In combination with the in-
numerable fine stainless steel supports, a constantly changing picture
is created inside — like the pages of a book turning over. Thus, all
rooms of the library, from the lobby to the meeting and staff rooms to
the open reading and working areas, are provided with daylight. Ho-
wever, the interior is characterised above all by two strikingly desi-
gned funnels. In the large reading room, the ceiling seems to open up
into a crater tapering upwards, thus opening up a view of the sky. In
the area reserved for children, daylight enters the building through
the funnel and gives this special room an additional visual intimacy,
which is adapted to the small users. For them, parts of the spacious
outdoor area, designed as Komagata Maru Park, have also been spe-
cially laid out. Oversized letters form the word Imagine and thus
create an unusual playground. This library has a lot to offer, and that
is exactly what makes it so special. It's not a spaceship, but it ex-
pands the horizons of those people who get into it and catapults them
Grundriss • Floor plan into new worlds!

AIT 5.2020 • 101