The opening of Toronto Public Library‘s 100th branch is reason enough for excitement, but Scarborough Civic Centre raises the pitch even higher with its visionary beauty, innovation, and attention to detail.
From the basil leaves embedded in playful towers to the 3-D printer, reading garden, and green roof, TPL’s newest library provides an outstanding community facility for the McCowan and Ellesmere neighbourhood. After only nine days in service, it already feels comfortably familiar; not a trace of plastic-on-the-best-sofa starchiness in sight.
Playing hooky with a purpose, I took a day off work to spend some time at Scarborough Civic Centre branch. After taking pictures for an hour and a half, I sat down at an epic table in the grand hall to better experience the character of the place. The sounds of happy kids in the KidsStop early literacy centre, keyboard tappings, and the voices of staff and patrons filled the space.
From where I was sitting, three sets of giant wooden hurdles met overhead. I liked the way the supporting beams tilted inward to support the overhead beam that joined them. With strength drawn from cooperative leaning, the structure’s airy openness was enabled by sturdy rustic supports containing the whole.
The building’s simplicity combined with details such as visible bolts served to create a secure framework to shelter readers and promote imaginative engagement with the decor.
The architects’ choice to use wooden instead of metal beams warmed the atmosphere and connected me to the greenery of the reading garden, the maple leaves in the pink tower, and memories of Camp Oakledge in Warsaw, Missouri.
The seeds, beans, and flowers embedded in the KidsStop towers glowed with poetry in the sunny southeast corner of Scarborough Civic Centre.
As a resident of Scarborough, I am more than proud to call this extraordinary library my new neighbour. Scarborough Civic Centre, thank you very much for your vision, poetry, and generosity!