Agrandissement de la bibliothèque Félix-Leclerc / Félix-Leclerc Library Expansion
2006
Québec City, Quebec, Canada- Architecture for culture, research, sport or leisure
- Building
- Library
In September 2006, Quebec City announced an architectural competition for the expansion of the Félix-Leclerc library in the Val-Bélair district. The competition is open exclusively to members in good standing of the Ordre des architectes du Québec. It is being held in one stage, preceded by a selection procedure of four finalists based on applications.
"The library intends to play a leading role as a public cultural institution, open to all and interacting with its community. In addition to its traditional roles of preserving and disseminating knowledge, it aims to support and encourage local cultural vitality, notably by facilitating animation and exhibition activities. The district library is not seen as a point of service, but as a place to visit, offering stimulating experiences that are constantly renewed.
In addition to the project's social and cultural mission, it offers an opportunity to revisit the relationship between such a public facility and its urban environment, in a young and dynamic district that has grown considerably in recent years, along a commercial and institutional axis that is similar to those found throughout North America, i.e., composed of a discontinuous succession of disparate buildings, often surrounded by large parking areas. It's a great opportunity to use this project as a plea for the requalification of such environments, and to update, twenty years later, the exemplary character attributed to the first building."
(From competition program)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The Félix-Leclerc library, built in 1985-1986 in the former municipality of Val-Bélair (now part of Quebec City), aroused the interest of local residents from the moment it was opened, and became a landmark in the region. Already in 1987, the Ordre des architectes du Québec recognized the exemplary nature of the project, awarding its designers, Claude Bisson and Onil Poulin, as well as the municipality's mayor, a "distinction in architecture" as part of its annual awards program.
The library was designed to meet the needs of the local population at the time, and consequently housed a collection of 36,000 volumes. Ten years later, its collection had grown substantially, and the facility no longer met the expected needs. The rapid growth of Val-Bélair's population, the attraction of the new library and the presence of a new high school nearby with no documentation center were the main factors behind this success.
Despite a request for financial assistance from the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC) in June 1998, the town of Val-Bélair had to accept the moratorium imposed by the MCC on the construction of cultural facilities. Renovation work was then carried out at the town's expense in 2001. Finally, following delays caused by municipal mergers and demergers, on March 2, 2006, the City of Val-Bélair received MCC approval for the library expansion project in its current form, and launched the planning process for an architectural competition in accordance with its current policies.
(CCC text)
"The library intends to play a leading role as a public cultural institution, open to all and interacting with its community. In addition to its traditional roles of preserving and disseminating knowledge, it aims to support and encourage local cultural vitality, notably by facilitating animation and exhibition activities. The district library is not seen as a point of service, but as a place to visit, offering stimulating experiences that are constantly renewed.
In addition to the project's social and cultural mission, it offers an opportunity to revisit the relationship between such a public facility and its urban environment, in a young and dynamic district that has grown considerably in recent years, along a commercial and institutional axis that is similar to those found throughout North America, i.e., composed of a discontinuous succession of disparate buildings, often surrounded by large parking areas. It's a great opportunity to use this project as a plea for the requalification of such environments, and to update, twenty years later, the exemplary character attributed to the first building."
(From competition program)
(Unofficial automated translation)
The Félix-Leclerc library, built in 1985-1986 in the former municipality of Val-Bélair (now part of Quebec City), aroused the interest of local residents from the moment it was opened, and became a landmark in the region. Already in 1987, the Ordre des architectes du Québec recognized the exemplary nature of the project, awarding its designers, Claude Bisson and Onil Poulin, as well as the municipality's mayor, a "distinction in architecture" as part of its annual awards program.
The library was designed to meet the needs of the local population at the time, and consequently housed a collection of 36,000 volumes. Ten years later, its collection had grown substantially, and the facility no longer met the expected needs. The rapid growth of Val-Bélair's population, the attraction of the new library and the presence of a new high school nearby with no documentation center were the main factors behind this success.
Despite a request for financial assistance from the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC) in June 1998, the town of Val-Bélair had to accept the moratorium imposed by the MCC on the construction of cultural facilities. Renovation work was then carried out at the town's expense in 2001. Finally, following delays caused by municipal mergers and demergers, on March 2, 2006, the City of Val-Bélair received MCC approval for the library expansion project in its current form, and launched the planning process for an architectural competition in accordance with its current policies.
(CCC text)