The City of Ottawa, Ottawa Public Library (OPL) and Library and Archives Canada unveiled the long-awaited design for the $192.9-million joint facility on LeBreton Flats.

Ottawa’s new super library has big expectations to meet.

It had to be a landmark destination worthy of the national capital and a project that will drive future development on LeBreton Flats. On top of that, it had to have that wow factor.

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When the design for a $192.9-million facility to be shared by the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) was unveiled Thursday, it appeared to have that wow factor.

The undulating roofline will be a nod to the rolling Ottawa River. Ontario limestone will clad part of the exterior, a reference to the nearby escarpment. Other parts will be clad in wood, a connection to the forests and Ottawa’s logging history. Walls of windows, with fritted glass to prevent bird collisions, will allow users to take in views of the river and the Gatineau Hills.

The building will have a green roof. It will also be one of the most sustainable buildings in the country. Inside, there will be a light-filled five-story atrium called a “town hall” and ceilings covered in wood that’s expected to be locally sourced.

There will be a recording studio, a maker space, a ground floor café and a top floor restaurant as well as an Indigenous space to showcase culture and knowledge, a children’s discovery centre and a large multi-purpose theatre, big enough for lectures and small conferences. Three entrances, on the east side, one on the wet and a third that links to the Pimisi LRT station, will draw visitors into the building.

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“Frankly, it’s beautiful,” said Guy Berthiaume, who retired as Librarian and Archivist of Canada in August. “I really love the wooden staircases. They’re spectacular.”

It was Berthiaume who started exploring a partnership with OPL early in 2016. Instead of separating the OPL and LAC on separate floors, the two entities share some space, while keeping their own space. This design offers a great opportunity to rethink public spaces, he said.

The new library will occupy 216,000 square feet at 55 Albert St., just west of Bronson Avenue, with OPL taking using just over 60 per cent of the space.

LAC and OPL will have their own areas in the building but will share some spaces — the two organizations are combining resources on genealogy, creating what they believe is the top genealogical research site in Canada.

There was pressure to have a great design at a time when there seems to be intense focus on library projects in Canada. Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax have opened flagship libraries in recent years to varying reviews.

Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia

“We wanted excellence. There’s no question about it,” OPL chief executive officer Danielle McDonald acknowledged. “We wanted that when we picked the architect. That was clear. That was our goal, and I don’t think we’ve given up on that.”

In Ontario, this is an unprecedented municipal-federal partnership, said Mayor Jim Watson. The synergy between OPL and LAC is predicted to draw about 1.7 million visitors annually.

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For LAC it will be an opportunity to showcase its rarely seen collections.

The City of Ottawa, OPL and LAC spent the past year gathering ideas from the public. About 4,000 people participated in workshops and online activities from Ottawa and across the country.

Diamond Schmitt Architects and KWC Architects teamed up on the design, spending much of 2019 to collect ideas from the public.

“One thing I don’t like is politicians getting in and mucking around on things,” said Coun. Tim Tierney, chair of the OPL board of trustees. “This is 100 per cent designed by the people. At the end of the day, it’s their building.”

Leslie Weir, who took over Berthiaume’s role as Librarian and Archivist of Canada, said the project team drew inspiration from other libraries around the world but wanted a design that would capture Ottawa — and new audiences. She pointed out that while people under 40 are all part of digital-born generations, surveys have shown that young people still love to gather. She predicted that the library will become the “agora” of the western part of downtown.

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The federal institution’s main building on Wellington Street, which has about 37,000 visitors annually wasn’t able to draw in visitors, despite a number of efforts, including a social media campaign and having people standing outside on Canada Day trying to lure visitors into the building, she said.

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Architect Donald Schmitt said he visited about a dozen major new libraries around the world. He was impressed by the light-filled top floor of the library in Helsinki, the beautiful atrium in Calgary and the restaurant in Halifax that overlooks the city.

Schmitt sees libraries as the cathedrals of community life. As for whether this building will go down in the history books as “iconic,” that’s up the community, not academics or critics, he said.

“Architects don’t design iconic buildings. People decide if the building has the values that get communities excited. Will this building get into the heart of the community? I think it will. It will be interesting to see,” said Schmitt.

An institution like LAC used to be a place for researchers and graduate students, but ordinary people didn’t feel welcome, said Berthiaume. He recalled that people would perch on the “secret bench of knowledge” sculpture near the door of the Wellington Street building to be photographed but wouldn’t venture the next three metres to go through the door.

“People saw it as a grey mass. It wasn’t welcoming,” he said. “I believe what we have here is more democratic. It’s a perfect match.”

Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia

The rest of this year will be used to finalize the drawings before a construction contract competition begins in early 2021, with a scheduled opening lat in 2024.

McDonald and Weir defended building a new central library and archives facility in an increasingly connected world where digital information is king.

“For me, libraries are essential. I always believe a learned society is a great one, but I think libraries are so much more than just what people traditionally think about them,” McDonald said.

“This building just gives you all that.”

With files from Jon Willing

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