Burnhamthorpe Library receives Mississauga Urban Design Award

Burnhamthorpe Library Redevelopment has received an Award of Merit from the City of Mississauga for Community Scale, Context, Execution and Living Green.

The development was profoundly affected by the City’s desire to enhance the building’s street presence and general accessibility through a combination of site redesign and the addition of new architectural components.  Equally important was the provision of clear spatial and visual identities to the facility’s sub-tenants: the Theatre, and the newly added offices of Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre (the local community outreach agency), while maintaining principal status of the Library as its main occupant.  Above all, however, the project endeavoured to capture the sense of place within the existing neighbourhood context and create the new civic identity for the redefined community building.

Sensitive and respectful of heritage nature of existing architecture, the design intervention visible from outside is limited to the southeast quadrant of the building.  Out of respect to original design, the language of new architecture, rather than attempting to blend, radically departs from the pre-existing in both its form and materiality.  The existing curved geometry is contrasted with rigidly applied rectilinear grid and mostly transparent, light glass walls stand out against existing heavy masonry solids, allowing for clear identification of the building’s old and new components.  While a large portion of the site had to be redeveloped to accommodate added parking requirements, the original undulating landscape has been preserved along the western edge of the property, keeping intact the whimsical character of the Moriyama’s design.  All new site development areas were also very carefully located to preserve the most valuable trees.

JURY COMMENTS

Each element of this redevelopment project was approached as a design opportunity. This has provided and impressive transformation and enhancement to an existing facility. The large canopy feature creates a strong sense of arrival and forms a gathering area while emphasizing the link between the inviting building entrance and the street. The use of light reflective materials and the play of mullions, glass and structural elements provide a comfortable scale and contribute interest to the pedestrian areas. At night, the building and its lighting would be a spectacular show. Both the site and the building incorporate a number of sustainable features such as underground water storage, green and white roofs, low flow plumbing fixtures and use of low toxicity materials.