Page 88 - Designing Ways 250

connections, multiple skylights, as well as a civic space. The building’s
surroundings, usually filled with parking lots, and opaque walls are
here replaced by green spaces and glass curtain walls.

Formally, the project adjusts itself according to the site’s main
elements. Instead of being purely functional and economic, the
building’s shape is drawn to both manifest its urban presence on
Pierrefonds Boulevard, and get closer to the wooded park, and to
retract to reveal existing greenery islands on the site.

White transparency and structural lightness
The project’s forms and materials are simple, and meant to disappear
to highlight the presence of its landscape, users, and books. White is
dominant both inside and out, and offers a neutral canvas from which
the landscape’s changing colours, the roaming visitors, and the many
documents contrast and stand out. The white surfaces – walls, ceilings,
and shelving – also reflect and multiply the natural light coming in
through the vast glass curtain walls, the interior garden, the glass roof,
and the multiple skylights, allowing the library to stay bright even
during cloudy weather. On the upper level, the light-yellow epoxy-
glazed concrete floor, oak benches, and colourful and comfortable
furniture bring warmth to the predominantly white spaces.

A glazed curtain-wall system punctuated with white aluminum
sections wraps the perimeter of the building. Some glass panels are
screen-printed to create a smooth transition between transparency
and opacity. The envelope is also textured inside; perforated
aluminum panels flank the floor and ceiling, which also act as a
ventilation distribution system.

Most of the upper floor slab is cantilevered along the perimeter of
the building. The structural challenge to preserve the impression of
lightness was achieved by making the floor slab appear as thin as
possible. The steel structure was carefully crafted in collaboration
with structural engineers, especially the glass roof over the bench
seating facing the woods.

Finally, the new building spreads around the initial borough’s library.
Developing the junctions between the new building envelope and the
existing façade was another technical and esthetical challenge. Some

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