06 DIDIER BEAUDOIN
A PALIMPSEST
a library through space and time
2050: the future is here... but things haven‘t changed too much. Cars drive themselves, the virtual world is melting onto the physical one and it‘s definitely getting warmer in here... but we still read and go to work and do groceries. ‘A Palimpsest‘ is a proposition for the McGill library, where times and spaces clash and coincide in an orgy of architectural games. The original McLennan library is treated like a continuity of the ground it sits on - it is excavated and mercilessly hacked into, as we would with a giant rock in which we were building a cave. Its insides are treated like strata that should be revealed as layers of time. The library is given back to its users after the books have been stored underground. It therefore becomes a large open space, both exciting and daunting, in which everything is possible. The regular grid of the existing structure is altered to give grip to different ways of inhabiting the building. New elements are inserted into this grid to diversify the types of spaces available, and more spectacularly, the library grows deeper with the addition of an introspective sunken courtyard and its adjoining spaces.
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CONCEPTUAL MODEL
The existing buildings are assimilated to the ground and carved into with no distinction. Two cuts are made: the first one (1.) allows light to get to the middle of the McLennan library while the second one (2.) is used as high-density storage for the book collection.
EARLY SKETCH
The cut through the existing and the large courtyard allows a hierarchy of spaces inside the library as well as around it. As such, it structures the indoors and outdoors spaces whereas the existing configuration leaves a lot of spaces with repetitive character or no particular qualities.
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4. DIGGING THROUGH THE LIBRARY
This simple action enables the core of the library - presently occupied by books - by bringing light deep into the building. It reveals the internal strata of the McLennan library. A LIBRARY WITHOUT BOOKS
The books being stored underground, the architecture if the library is now revealed. It becomes a large building constituted of stacked open plan floors, similar to an office building. How do we occupy such a building?
STRUCTURE
The existing structure becomes an area of spatial experimentation where the rigid grid is playfully altered, giving grip to new usages.
FAÇADE DETAILS
The new elevations at the location of the cut through the existing building reveal the strata while leaving possibilities for human-scaled interactions (operable windows, balconies).
SECTION A-A’
MAIN SECTION CUTS
Elements in red are inserted into the rigid grid of the existing building. On the 7th floor and on the roof is the new exhibition space. Between the 6th and 7th floor is the new open amphitheater on the slanted slab. Underground is the new closed amphitheater, the automated book storage and a storm water basin.
amphitheater stormwater basin
SECTION B-B’
A HISTORY OF THE OPEN PLAN
Each floor has a distinctive character, allowing for a diversity of usages of the library, ranging from loud team work to silent solitary activities, from casual seating to traditional library carrel. The library becomes a place to explore where everyone can find a space that corresponds to their mood and aspiration for the day. MATERIAL CONTRAST
The new interventions are given a time signature. Their round edges, soft materials and silky shadows contrast with the hard edges of concrete from the existing building. This collage exemplifies the method used for the new elements of the library. (ref: Joseph Beuys, Caruso-St.John, 6A Architects)
B’
emergency exit
mechanical room/ storage
emergency exit
rare book exhibition
A classroom
high-density book storage
BASEMENT PLAN
B
This level makes the transition between the existing library building and the new extension. It contains the rare books collection that is still on display as well as a silent reading room built on the model of the medieval cloister. A staircase, from which the user can see the high-density book storage on one side and the rare books exhibition on the other, leads downstairs to the new auditorium situated partly below the courtyard.
rare book reading room
A’
mechanical room
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B’
food services
kitchen
A
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
B
The entrance to the library is moved to the eastern side, accessible from the campus and from the street via a new footbridge over the sunken courtyard. In an effort to link the library to the campus, outside seating is available around the courtyard and the Roddick Gate.
entrance lobby
A’
security & book return
storage
delivery & storage
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360 media room
media room media room
4th
cafĂŠ
storage
kitchen
6th SELECTION OF PLANS
Each floor has a distinctive character, allowing for a diversity of usages of the library, ranging from loud team work to silent solitary activities, from casual seating to traditional library carrel. The library becomes a place to explore where everyone can find a space that corresponds to their mood and aspirations for the day.
5th
exhibition gallery
storage/ cloakroom
7th
N
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CAPTION TITLE
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RENDERED IMAGES
1. View from Sherbrooke St. 2. Structure and faรงade interventions: subspaces for personal activities 3. Entrance bridge 4. Rare books exhibition room at basement level: book storage on the left, courtyard on the right
FINAL MODEL
Physical rendition of the 6th and 7th floors, scaled 1/100th, showing detailed structure, curtain wall and furniture.