HCMA Architecture and Design and Dub Architects Ltd. designed Edmonton Public Library’s Mill Woods branch and Mill Woods Seniors Activity Centre with metal panels to define the public space, reduce the building’s large scale and fit with other commercial facilities in the area, which have metal components. The public areas appear to emerge from within the larger structure and the support spaces of offices and meeting areas are hidden inside.
Darryl Condon is managing principal at HCMA Architecture and Design. “Our strategy was focused on creating a bold form that asserts itself on the context,” Condon says. “We wanted the public spaces of the library to be read clearly upon approach and for those spaces to have a strong visual connection with the site.”
Flynn Canada installed 15,000 square feet of Dri-Design’s 0.08-inch Tapered Series post-painted aluminum panels in Tricorn Black for the project.
Condon says the metal panels define the character of the building and provide a familiar with material and color with an unexpected modularity and texture. “In different light conditions, they provide a varied impression of the building,” he says. “At times it feels quite solid and at others quite light and ephemeral.”
Michael Dub is principal at Dub Architects. “We love the way the pixilated building catches the sun differently at different times of the days, especially when it seems to dissolve into the sky at dusk,” Dub says.
Brad Zeeff is president at Dri-Design. “The city’s commitment to its residents to create a defined civic space is clear with this project and the selection of metal,” Zeeff says. “Metal is widely used in this area, but the applications are so varied in terms of durability and aesthetics.”
“Dri-Design was selected because they offered compelling latitude to experiment,” Dub says. “We were able to create an incredibly rich and surprising effect while maintaining a rational approach and straight-forward constructability.”
The 25,000-square-foot library is on the first floor of the 50,300-square-foot facility; the 17,500-square-foot Mill Woods Seniors Activity Centre is on the second floor. The activity center has a large, multipurpose program space, program room, arts room, two meeting rooms, games room, kitchen, dining area for 30 people, office space and lounging areas. The project was designed to attain LEED Silver certification and was completed in 2015.
Architects: Dub Architects Ltd., Edmonton, and HCMA Architecture and Design, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Installer: Flynn Canada Ltd., Acheson, Alberta
Metal wall panels: Dri-Design, New Holland, Mich., www.dri-design.com
Photo: Mark Kempf, St. Louis
