New Library in Marieville Celebrates its Past While Building for the Future
The Quebec government, which subsidizes the building of cultural institutions, large or small, recongnizes that cultural infrastructure plays a key role in developing dynamic prosperous communities, and the rule applies to communities of all sizes, not just to large cities. That answers the question, "how did so many outstanding theaters, museums, and public libraries get to built-in Québec over the last two decades?".
Based on this criteria, the government has required that architecture competitions be held in order to release funding. Thus, even small towns not particularly known for their interest in contemporary architecture end up benefitting from a pool of highly creative architects. Such is the case with Marieville, Quebec (with a population of 10000 inhabitants), a rural community located an hour away from Montreal, which launched a library competition in July 2020. Out of 19 architectural schemes, Anne Carrier Architecture, a team known for its subtle, light-filled interventions, won the project design. The competition results were announced in February 2021, and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2023.
The Context
Like many small Canadian communities, Marieville has a rich history and several buildings of interest, among them an impressive stone church just south of the site. The future library will face the town’s century-old park featuring beautiful mature trees, a monument, and a kiosk where open air concerts can take place. Remnants of a former church are buried in a carefully preserved archeological zone.
The site borders the town’s main street, which runs parallel to a nearby river and still features historically significant residences. Over the last few years, Marieville has taken several initiatives to gradually transform this central area into a civic pole where the library and its community-oriented services will play a major role. As they searched for a solution, the architects paid a lot of attention to the history of the site and its new context.
The inspiration
The project was slated to be built exactly where once stood Marieville’s former library, which had to be demolished in 2012, covering the area of 1155㎡. The future building’s elongated volume was determined by the narrowness of the site, and the presence of a protected archeological area. Nearby features, such as the park, several heritage buildings dotting the main street, a nearby spring, and the church’s parvis were all taken into account as the concept evolved.
A diagonal line was introduced on the ground floor of the library, as a reminder of the main street’s path. This break in the volume not only facilitates visual connections between the library and the site’s notable features but allows for a small triangular plaza, located off the library entrance.
For book lovers and students coming from a nearby school, the church will act as a visual reference guiding their steps towards the main door. Inside, a sculptural staircase will adorn the three-level high lobby, as a reminder of the grain silos still predominant in this rural region.
The concept
In their competition entry, the architects opted for transparency and openness, particularly on the west façade facing the park. Services will be kept along the building’s east façade so that all common spaces will enjoy a direct connection with the park lush environment.
The proposed library consists of two three-level volumes linked by an elevator, a sculptural staircase, and two upper walkways. From the central lobby, open to all three floors, one will be able to visualize the entire building and fully grasp the presence of the church, the park, and the town’s main street, running parallel to the river.
As they come in, users will be directed left, towards the multipurpose room and the dance studio on the ground floor, or right to the library’s reception desk and children’s corner. Up one floor, citizens will have access to a community kitchen, workshop, and classroom on the north side, and to a periodicals area and a small café, part of the library. The building’s entire top floor will be dedicated to library functions, adult and teen sections, reading areas, media lab, and administration.
For over ten years now, regulars have been confined to a dark church basement. For them, this project means renewing with the pleasure of browsing and reading in bright and airy spaces. As the project was made public, Marieville’s Mayor Caroline Gagnon declared: “Of course we want this to be a library and a cultural facility. But above all, we hope it will be a place conducive to learning and discovery. We were totally seduced by the brightness of the project and by the perspectives submitted by the architects. We were also pleased with the way the building fits within Parc Crevier’s natural environment."
About Anne Carrier architecture (AC/a)
Founded in 1992, the firm Anne Carrier architecture focuses on creativity, quality, and durability. The firm’s work is the result of a careful analysis process and a search for solutions in harmony with nature and today’s cultural and urban landscapes. Conceptually, aesthetically, and technically, AC/a aims at creating spaces where “transparency and natural light” reign.
The firm is known for the excellence of its work and services, as well as for its ability to solve complex situations in a simple, efficient, and sustainable way. Over the last decades, Anne Carrier architecture has received more than 35 awards and distinctions including a prestigious Governor General’s Award for architecture in 2016. The Lévis-based firm is currently working on another library, L’Octogone, in Montréal, also the result of an architecture competition.