Vancouver Library Square
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Vancouver_Library_Square_July_2004.jpg
The Library Square Building in Vancouver, British Columbia is the home to the Vancouver Public Library. It is modelled on a Roman Colosseum. This is an iconic building in Vancouver and is commonly shown on postcards. The building consists of both the main library portion and the office tower portion.
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Design and Construction
The Library Square Project was the largest capital project ever undertaken by the city of Vancouver. The decision to build the project came after a favorable public referendum in November 1990.
The City then held a design competition to choose a design for the new building. The design by Moshe Safdie was by far the most radical design and yet was the public favourite. The inclusion of the office tower in the design was required in order to pay for it and as part of a deal with the federal government to obtain the land, the federal government has a long term lease on the high rise office tower portion of the project.
Construction began in early 1993 and was completed in 1995. In addition to its function as the central branch of the city's public library system, the one square block project also includes an attached office high-rise, retail shops, restaurants, and underground public parking.
Location
The building is located in the eastern portion of the Vancouver Central Business District. The address of the library is 360 West Georgia Street, and the Office tower is addressed at 300 West Georgia Street.
The Square is bordered by Robson Street, Homer Street, West Georgia Street, and Hamilton Street. Across West Georgia Street is Canada Post. Across Hamilton Street is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Across Homer street is the Centre for Performing Arts (formerly the Ford Centre for Performing Arts) also designed by Moshe Safdie as a complementary building to library square.
Statistics
Library building (including retail, daycare, and parking)
- 9 stories
- 37,000 square metres (398,000 square feet)
- the 1.5 million books, periodicals, and other reference materials are moved through the building by vertical and horizontal conveyors
- 51 km of cable are laid throughout the building, including a fibre optic backbone
- seating capacity: 1200+
- 700+ parking stalls and many bicycle racks
- top 2 floors currently leased by the British Columbia government and scheduled for future library expansion
- approximate cost: CAD $107 million
High-rise
- currently occupied by the Canadian government
- approximate cost: CAD $50 million
External links
- Information and photo gallery at the Canadian Architecture Collection (http://cac.mcgill.ca/safdie/searchengines/showrecord.php?id=109)
- Vancouver Public Library (http://www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca)
- Photo of the library's atrium, by Alan Levine (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/3854236/)