Famed library architect backs LeBreton site for new central branch

The designer behind one of Canada's most celebrated library buildings is praising the Ottawa Public Library's proposal to build a new main branch onLeBretonFlats instead of the downtown core.

Danish architect Morten Schmidt is a co-founder of Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the Copenhagen-based design firm responsible for several libraries around the world, including the award-winning Halifax Central Library which opened in 2014.

Schmidt's firm was hired by RendezVous LeBreton Group, the winning bidder for the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats, to come up with a potential design for a new central library, even though a library was not part of the group's formal bid, and the site favoured by the Ottawa Public Library is not within the area to be redeveloped.

Core problem

Appearing on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning, Schmidt said he is aware many residents want the main branch, currently located at the corner of Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue, to remain in the downtown.

I certainly think you should look at the opportunities of not placing it in an obvious place.- Morten Schmidt

But he said there are benefits to placing the new building elsewhere.

"I certainly think you should look at the opportunities of not placing it in an obvious place, but placing it somewhere where it can bring some new energy into the city."

The library is proposing to build the new, $168-million main branch on city-owned property on Albert Street, just west of Bronson Avenue, on the eastern edge of LeBreton Flats.

Critics say the site is not within easy walking distance for most downtown residents.

New age, new approach

Schmidt said he believes libraries in the digital age need to be gathering places where young people in particular can socialize, an approach that informed the design of the Halifax Central Library which includes a rooftop patio, a 300-seat theatre, two cafes, gaming stations and two music studios.

"I think really there's an urge to socialize because cyberspace is an artificial, non-authentic way of meeting and it's very lonesome in a way. So we need to meet socially and physically."

The Ottawa Public Library Board will vote on the LeBreton Flats site on Jan. 31. Ottawa City Council is expected to make the final decision in a vote on Feb. 8.

Schmidt will deliver a public lecture tonight about how communities benefit from good design. It takes place at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau starting at 6 p.m.