Entertainment

New Central Library

Project Details

New Central Library


Location

Calgary, AB, Canada

Owner/Client

City of Calgary, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), Calgary Public Library

Completion

2018

Role

Electrical Engineering Consulting Services & Specialty Lighting Design

Sustainability

LEED® Gold Certified

Awards
  • 2020 Consulting Engineers of Alberta (CEA) - Awards of Excellence in Building Engineering - Institutional
  • 2019 Mayor's Urban Design Award (MUDA) - Mawson Urban Design Award
  • 2019 Mayor's Urban Design Award (MUDA) - People's Choice Award
  • 2019 Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) - D.E. Frost Award for Excellence in Lighting
  • 2019 Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) - Illumination Award of Merit; Interior Lighting Design
  • 2017 Mayor's Urban Design Award (MUDA) - Great City, Great Design

The New Central Library was designed to bridge the gap between the existing downtown core and the new East Village development. Serving as the flagship library within the City of Calgary, the design concept was focused on social interaction, studying, learning and community activities. Built on six levels, the building has designated areas for varying uses and houses a 350-seat theatre, performance hall and public gathering spaces, in addition to its physical collection of books. Constructed atop an existing LRT track, which remained in service continuously during construction, presented numerous engineering challenges which the design team addressed while maintaining on-budget.

As the Electrical Engineer, SMP was engaged to design and implement the lighting scheme with the design approach to embrace the ever-changing Southern Alberta sky. The process included opportunities to discuss the integration of lighting into the architecture, which resulted in unique lighting solutions for the various spaces within the library.

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