Developer: Calgary Public Library, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation
Architect: Snøhetta
  
Address: 3 Street SE and 7 Avenue SE, Calgary
Category: Institutional
Status: CompleteCompletion: 2018
Height: ? ft / ? mStoreys: 6 storeys
Project Forum 747 posts
Real Estate Forum
Follow 3 followingUpload 412 photos
Official WebsiteReport Error


New Central Library | ?m | 6s | Calgary Library | Snøhetta

General rating of the project

  • Great

    Votes: 53 72.6%
  • Very Good

    Votes: 16 21.9%
  • Good

    Votes: 4 5.5%
  • So so

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    73
I stopped by yesterday and checked it out. One word describes it: Magnificent. My one and only criticism was the main entrance way was a bit darker than I expected, kind of has a tunnel feel. I also realize there wasn't much way around it given the LRT underneath. Sonhetta did a great job on a challenging site.
 
Just took a quick look at lunch, awesome! so glad to have this in our city, should bring lots of people to the area as well!
 
Any plans for the empty lots on the East side of the library? One is beside the St. Louis, and the other is directly across on the south side.
 
Yeah, I think Knightsbridge still owns that site. Nothing proposed yet though. And of course on the south side of 9th Ave, as has been widely discussed on this forum, the Platform Innovation Centre is starting construction in a few months.

Also, the photos in that article made me o_O:p:D
 
Incredible.

I hadn't realised how eclectic the architecture was. They took nods from ancient Athens' "stoa". There are indigenous and natural allusions at every turn. There is a mix of modernist and organic materials. It almost falls to the Mondrian and geometric motifs of the past decade, then obliterates them. Best of all, it's inviting, and everything serves the equally important objective of connecting the EV and burying the tracks. This is a human project very well done.

By the way, my favourite bits of wisdom from reading the comments:
- "who even uses libarys [sic] anymore? people jsut read on their smartphones"
- "Too bad its in the ghetto were it will be full of vagrants"
- "How is it going to earn money nobody will use it"
- "I havent used a library since elementray school"

And not a moment too late, Calgary.
 

Back
Top