Edmonds Town Centre Library

Location

7311 Kingsway Avenue

Burnaby, BC

Canada

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Certifications & Awards
  • LEED Canada for New Construction and Major Renovations v1 CaGBC LEED Certified
Project Team
  • Code Consultant: GHL Consultants LTD
  • Commissioning Authority: CES Engineering Ltd.
  • Contractor: Dominion Fairmile Construction Ltd.
  • Interior Design: CEI Architecture, Planning, Interiors
  • Environmental Consultant: Pacific Environmental Consulting
  • Landscape Architect: Phillips, Farevaag, Smallenberg
  • Civil Engineer: HunterLaird Engineering LTD
  • Electrical Engineer: MCW Consultants ltd.
  • Mechanical Engineer: Cobalt Engineering
  • Structural Engineer: Bush, Bohlman & Partners
  • LEED Consultant: Recollective Consulting Inc.
  • Architect: CEI Architecture, Planning, Interiors
  • Owner: City of Burnaby

Summary

As part of a redevelopment initiative, the new Edmonds Town Centre Library will replace the existing Kingsway Library. The new library will be located at the northeast corner of Kingsway and Walker Avenue. In addition to continuing its role of lending books and other materials to the public, the Library will serve as a community anchor, as a community resource, and as a meeting place. It will provide outreach services to new Canadians and provide access to computer technology and language training. The Edmonds Town Centre Library design will have a transparency through the use of exterior glazing treatments, providing the public an awareness of its internal activities.

Design

The visual connection between pedestrian and library patron is critical and will serve as an invitation to participate. The exterior form, use of materials, and architectural details together will give the building a strong civic identity. The Edmonds community is multi-ethnic. It is important that the architecture is not culturally imposing in its use of materials and form. The library reading room will read as a beacon on Kingsway.

The design, with 46 underground parking spaces and a 1,600 sq. m (17,500 sq. ft.) library is intended to address the community’s needs over the next twenty years. ## Design

The library planning is based on a large reading room surrounded by lower programme spaces and administration areas, all on a single level. Within the main space, the strategic placement of book stacks and other components will create separate programme areas. The open concept design compliments the needs of Library staff to have good visual control and allows the public ease of orientation with the building. The main entrance is set back from Kingsway on Walker Avenue, but is signalled directly on Kingsway by a landscaped, terraced forecourt, an over-sailing porch and a canopy which leads to the entrance. Parking access is outside the library control point, adjacent to the entrance. The Walker Avenue landscape treatment will provide a series of quiet spaces which will animate the streetscape and provide calm at the library entrance. The Kingsway treatment will incorporate a ‘History Wall’ which will incorporate ideas and images of the area’s past.

The City of Burnaby will be applying for LEED Silver certification for the new branch in Edmonds Town Centre. We are committed to a creating a sustainable building that is healthy for those who use it and those who work in it.

Sustainable Features

Lighting

The building is substantially day lit, and when artificial light is required, daylight sensors and automatic dimming controls ensure appropriate light levels with minimum energy use. To address the quality of light, extensive shading is deployed on the south, east, and west facades, reducing direct light while allowing diffuse light. In office areas, light shelves are fitted to drive light deeper into the plan, and bottom-up shades are provided to address privacy and glare issues without excluding all daylight.

Heating

Thermal comfort is achieved by use of radiant heating in the concrete floor slab. To provide the thermal energy to this system, a ground source exchange system of twenty-one two-hundred and twenty-five foot deep wells are provided on the site. Using heat exchangers and pumps, thermal energy is drawn from the earth around the wells, and used to supply fluid to the pipe located in the slab. As a result, there is no natural gas connection to the building.

Ventilation

A displacement ventilation system is employed, complemented by the radiant heating system cast in the floor slab. Ventilation functions are independent from heating, increasing efficiency while providing greater control to the occupants. Heat recovery is undertaken on return air before it is discharged, to draw out remaining heat to warm the fresh air that is drawn into the building. During fair weather, natural ventilation is accommodated with both manual and automated operable windows.

Air quality

Interior finishes were selected that exhibit little or no off-gassing. Effectively eliminating sources of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) will result in improved indoor air quality, and will benefit the health of occupants. FSC-Certified wood is planned for millwork and interior finishes. Certified wood is responsibly harvested and processed, and its production is verified by a third party.

Exterior construction materials

Composing the structure of the building in concrete was a deliberate decision, both for structural reasons, as well as durability, comfort, and energy efficiency. The concrete for the building exhibits 30-40% cement replacement with supplemental cementing materials (flyash). The production of cement is energy intensive and results in substantial carbon dioxide emissions. Replacing cement with flyash, a waste product, has the dual benefit of lowering CO2 emissions while making use of a waste material. The massive walls and floor are generally exposed to allow the concrete to act as a thermal regulator, absorbing and releasing heat energy to moderate the daily variation in temperature.

Water Consumption

Responsible use of water was important to the conception of the design. Roof water is captured and collected in an underground cistern, where it is stored for later use as the sole source of the site landscape irrigation system. The water feature on the south face of the building uses only recycled water. Inside, potable water is conserved by use of low-flow fixtures.

Green roof

The roof on the low portion of the building is ‘green’ – planted with a mix of sedums, a plant variety that is hearty in our climate that requires little maintenance. The green roof aids in reducing Stormwater discharge, and helps cool the building.