WINNER OF A 2023 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERIT
This well-resolved neighbourhood library building explicitly wears its commitment to reconciliation on its sleeve with its Indigenous-inspired façade and rooftop programming area for First Nations. We reviewed a large number of projects attempting to acknowledge First Nations, and this one seemed to do so in a particularly comfortable way. — Michael Heeney, juror
This public library takes on the reading of the larger context, and brings consciousness to Indigenous learning and history as a strong connector. There is a balance of readings: the parallelogram patterns are cut out to make windows, and the colour versus natural metal reads equally strongly. The result is a tradition-inspired patterned façade that simultaneously creates a distinct shimmering civic building in a neighbourhood of bungalows. In a clever set of moves, it opens up the corner and its glazing strategy brings people up to the roof. It’s nice to see a relatively energy-efficient and space-efficient building be a maker of memories as well. — Claire Weisz, juror
On Dawes Road in Toronto’s east end, a new 2,443-square-metre library will serve as a focal point to a growing community, offering library resources, gathering spaces, and a connection to nature. Hamilton-based Smoke Architecture, an Indigenous-led architecture practice, has partnered with Perkins&Will, a firm with extensive experience in sustainable design and public buildings.
Dawes Road and its neighbourhood have a layered history. The area once contained a quarry for local brick manufacturing, a large agricultural operation, and part of a historic trail down to the waterfront and St. Lawrence Market. The project site is within the Treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and is the traditional territory of Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat Nations. Today, Toronto is home to a sizeable Indigenous population.
Responding to neighbourhood scale, the building sits lower on the site to address the single-family residences while a sloping parapet peaks at the third storey at Dawes Avenue to shelter a generous public plaza. The library occupies the ground and second floors while the community hub and a large roof terrace are on the third. The journey through the building culminates at the roof garden, where events and cultural ceremonies can spill out onto the garden.
In collaboration with the Toronto Public Library, City of Toronto, and a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous community stakeholders, the project team created a design that evokes an Indigenous star blanket, celebrating learning and discovery. The star blanket serves as an architectural metaphor. Blankets have a personality and spirit, communicating something about their maker and the techniques used in their making. Blankets also protect us from the environment, offering a strong analogy to the role of an architectural envelope. The blanket wraps and embraces the building, providing colour and texture and conveying a sense of motion.
To translate the blanket metaphor into an achievable building system, the design team started with a 1:20 scale physical model and rolls of industrial felt to experiment with folds, wraps and layering. In the final iteration, the front of the blanket remains open and welcoming. Clad in four colours of individually formed zinc panels, the façade was developed through a parametric design process and a close collaboration with a specialized metal fabricator.
The metaphor of the star blanket is further supported by the articulation of a high-performance envelope with a low percentage of glazed openings. The building will be fully electrified, with a rooftop photovoltaic array to offset a portion of the energy use. A borehole below the building will serve a geothermal mechanical system to lower the peak energy demand.
A culture grows and evolves through participation. This flexible and open venue will encourage the sharing of stories, the passing of traditions, and the embrace of new voices and experiences.
CLIENT Toronto Public Library | ARCHITECT TEAM Andrew Frontini FRAIC, Eladia Smoke FRAIC, Michael Blois, Linda Neumayer MRAIC, Mikel Calleja, Martha del Junco, Chelsea Jacobs, Shabaan Khokhar, Jennifer Kinnunen, Flora Mouchel, Anna Beznogova, David D’Andrea, Lindsey Furik | STRUCTURAL Entuitive Engineering | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/PLUMBING The Hidi Group | LANDSCAPE FRP Inc. | AREA 2,443 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Tender | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2025
ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 110 kWh/m2/year | THERMAL ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 26.41 kWh/m2/year | GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 5.5 kg/m2/year | WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 17.10 m3/m2/year | ANTICIPATED CERTIFICATIONS CaGBC Zero Carbon Building, Toronto Green Standard V3