Archetech Issue 27 2016 | Page 32

Archetech - Page 32 From the café to the central outdoor courtyard, the vibrant two-storey facility hosts extensive public activity space far beyond the library’s collection of books. Accessible for all, visitors are encouraged to animate ideas within the library’s maker-spaces. Computer modeling and 3D printers, a media suite, sound recording studio, video studio and green screen all creates hands-on opportunities to learn, discover curiosities and hone craft. Multi-generational and diverse, each space within has been designed to foster learning for wide-ranging user groups. Students from primary school to post-secondary, new Canadian residents, teens, toddlers and parents have all been given spaces to learn and connect with one another in social interaction zones that includes flexible furniture arrangements. Indicative of a library’s ‘function in –flux’, highly flexible, movable book collection stacks offer flexibility for librarians and visitors to use the space in multiple ways, as the needs of the community evolve daily or annually. Exposing residents to new possibilities of discovery, public areas are transparent and visually interlinked. Expansive glazing at the street level engages all passing by to join the activity inside. Social zones, lounge seating, and individual study space also surround the perimeter windows, maximizing light and views while creating a direct connection with the neighbourhood beyond. www.zasa.com Image Credit www.doublespacephoto.com