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The highly-anticipated makeover of the Vancouver Public Library’s (VPL) central branch was finally revealed to the public on Saturday, September 29th. Constructed in 1995, this stunning building has long been a landmark in Vancouver’s downtown. However, the top two floors were occupied by the provincial government, and inaccessible to the public. After the lease expired in 2015, and with funding approved in the 2015-2018 Capital Plan, the retrofit commenced in June 2017.
The original architects Moshe Safdie & Associates, along with local partners DA Architects, and the renowned landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, are behind the expansion design. The library expansion encompassed Levels 8 and 9 and created an additional 35,000 square feet of space, including a two-storey public atrium, an 80-seat theatre, a reading room, community spaces, administrative offices, and a multi-purpose room with a catering kitchen. A section of the interior at Level 9 was demolished to create an 8,000-square-foot garden. Existing terraces on the south and north sides of the building at Level 8 were updated to allow public access. The main building elevators were also modernized, and new, glass guardrails at Levels 8 and 9 were installed, as well as solar panels.
The opening ceremony was attended by representatives from the Vancouver Public Library, civic leaders, and members of the public. Visitors to the library were able to join Central Library expansion tours to learn more about the expansion. The tours are available through the month of October; for more information click here. In conjunction with the opening, the VPL created a reading list titled VPL - Roof Gardens and Gardening. The list features books on rooftop gardens and celebrates the work of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the landscape architect of VPL's rooftop spaces.
Now complete, the renovations will be a boon to the downtown facility, the core having becoming exceptionally more dense in the intervening quarter century since the VPL's original opening.
Additional information along with renderings of the tower can be found in our Database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.
