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L
eslie Weir expects the new
Ottawa Public Library and
Archives Canada Joint Facili-
ty will offer inhabitants of the
country’s capital much more than
just books and historical docu-
ments when it opens in 2024.
The $192.9-million project, sit-
uated at 555 Albert St., is expected
to become a central part of a
broad redevelopment of the area.
“It’ll be like the agora of the
west side of Ottawa,” says Ms.
Weir, who was named Librarian
and Archivist of Canada last year
after 15 years as librarian at the
University of Ottawa. “It’s going to
expand the downtown.”
The 200,000-square-foot
building, which breaks ground
early next year, isn’t planned to be
anything like the staid libraries of
yesteryear. For one thing, it’s the
product of an unprecedented col-
laboration between the City of Ot-
tawa and Library and Archives
Canada, principals say.
Both organizations were con-
sidering constructing separate
buildings, but in 2016 decided to
combine them into a single mega-
project. Public engagement then
became a major component of
the plan, with 7,000 people across
the country consulted on virtual-
ly every detail over the course of
the next four years.
The city is contributing $104.2-
million toward the library’s con-
struction, plus $18.1-million for a
200-spot parking garage, while
the federalgovernment is adding
$70.6-million for conception and
building.
The design, unveiled in Janu-
ary, featuresa swooping,wave-
like roof that takes inspiration
from the nearby Ottawa River.
With a stone and wood exterior
and surrounding green space, it’s
intended to stand out in both de-
sign and function.
Aside from housing books and
a genealogy collection, the library
will also feature collaborative
workshop areas, an auditorium, a
town hall gathering space, play
areas for children and food and
coffee retailers.
The site, meanwhile, is situated
near bike paths and Ottawa’s
newly constructed LRT line.
Library and Archives Canada ex-
pects a huge usage increase be-
cause of the easy accessibility, to
1.7-million annual visitors from
30,000 at its current main loca-
tion at 395 Wellington St.
That spike will reflect the tradi-
tional library’s transformation
into a cultural centre.
“Over the past few decades,
they’ve become the cathedrals of
our age,” says Donald Schmitt,
principal of Diamond Schmitt
Architects, which co-designed
with KWC Architects.
“They’ve really become a cross-
roads for the community. ... [The
Ottawa library] bridges the tradi-
tional city and the city in the fu-
ture.”
The new “super library” will
potentially break ground at the
same time as the proposed LeBre-
ton Flats development, just
blocks away.
That project, whose overall
master plan was approved by the
National Capital Commission in
January, aims to create four new
quadrants in the area, including a
cultural and entertainment-fo-
cused Aqueduct District, a mixed-
use “high street” section in the Al-
bert District, a residential Flats
District and a Park District.
Over all, the development is ex-
pected to take 20 to 30 years to
complete, with the NCC aiming to
add 418,000 square metres of resi-
dential space, 116,000 square
metres of office space and 21,000
square metres of retail space. A fi-
nal vote on the plan will be held in
the fall, with an aim to have shov-
els in the ground by early 2021.Taken together, the two pro-
jects represent a possible revital-
ization and expansion of a largely
underdeveloped part of Ottawa.
“It ties in with the vision that
Ottawa is coming out of its shell
and is starting to show some per-
sonality,” says Shawn Hamilton,
senior vice-president and manag-
ing director of Commercial Real
Estate Services Canada. “It just
shows what the scale of the devel-
opment could be. It’s a large piece
of land with a lot of potential.”
As a librarian, Ms. Weir is excit-
ed about the central role that the
library and archives facility is ex-
pected to play in bringing out that
potential.
On recent trips to Halifax and
Calgary, she was struck by how
key new libraries had become to
their respective cities. They’re not
unlike schools, she says, which at-
tract families and thus spark ac-
tivity. “When a new central library
is built in an area that is up and
coming, it does tend to trigger a
lot more development in that ar-
ea,” she says. “You couldn’t miss
the building going on around
those central library facilities [in
Halifax and Calgary].”Special to The Globe and MailLeslie Weir, seen in Ottawa on Feb. 13, was named Librarian and Archivist of Canada last year after 15 years as
librarian at the University of Ottawa. She says the city’s new Ottawa Public Library and Archives Canada Joint
Facility, seen in renderings below, will ‘be like the agora of the west side of Ottawa.’
ABOVE: DAVE CHAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL; BELOW: RENDERINGS COURTESY OF DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTSAmodernconcept
signalsthenext
chapterforOttawa’s
‘superlibrary’
Developmentofcity’sPublicLibrary
andArchivesCanadafacilityseekstocreate
abroadercentreforcultureandcommunity
PETER NOWAK
[The Ottawa library]
bridges the traditional
city and the city in the
future.DONALD SCHMITT
DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS
PRINCIPAL