Turning the gaze towards the Ottawa River
The Place des Pionniers project embraces different urban scales, and commemorates the founding and unifying point of Gatineau's urban territory: the Ottawa River.
On a territorial scale, the volume formed by the two upper storeys of the new building pivots to the west to open up the large facade of Principale Street towards the Ottawa River, offering an unobstructed view where the gradient towards the riverbank steepens. This opens up the ground-floor volume of the library at the corner of Court Street, where the children's and family areas are exposed, in continuity with the buildings on Principale Street.
Opening up to the vitality of the city
In a counter-movement, the ground-floor facades open up towards the Park and Principale Streets, projecting the upper volume cantilevered above the public space, in a gesture that marks the entrance and naturally invites pedestrians. The layout of the new civic building preserves the alignment of Principale and Park Streets, while offering a wide forecourt in continuity with the public space along these streets, an important crossroads in Old Aylmer. The forecourt communicates visually with the library's interior space. A transparent Citizen's Space, open onto the Memorial Park, allows for reciprocal physical and visual percolation between the collective spaces and the context.
Bringing light into the center of the building
A large planted courtyard is dug into the center of the building on the two upper levels. It illuminates the heart of the building through a central opening adjacent to it, where an architectural staircase extends from the reception area to the Ottawa River Lookout, providing a continuous experience of all the spaces. The courtyard, accessible from the library, naturally illuminates the work, collaboration and reading areas, as well as the administrative spaces on the upper level, arranged around this island of greenery. The visitor's experience oscillates between openness to the city and retreat to the courtyard.
A dialogue with Old Aylmer's emblematic built environment
The ground-floor volume, with its large windows overlooking the street, is aligned with the main street's built environment. The upper volume and the ground anchor at the rear of the building are adorned with a system of grooved panels and terracotta shading strips that echo the tone and materiality of the red-brick frame of Old Aylmer's houses, enabling a harmonious and unique integration with the heritage context. The parallax effect of the vertical sunshades allows the perception of the facades to oscillate between transparency and opacity, depending on the point of view of the passer-by, and to control the penetration of light into the interior spaces.
Always surrounded by greenery
At the corner of Court and Principale Streets, a hanging garden on the first floor roof signals the library and welcomes visitors as they make their way to the entrance. In the wider public space in front of the building, playful green islands enliven the sidewalk and pleasantly direct pedestrians towards the building's entrance. Inside, a similar type of planted island is integrated into the reception sequence formed by the large counter and the architectural staircase. Upstairs, the planted courtyard offers a natural space sheltered from the urban environment, a haven of tranquillity. The top level features a planted island overlooking the Ottawa River Lookout. Eventually, an urban agriculture program in tubs could be set up in the center of the extensive green roof.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
POINTS OF INTEREST
+ This project takes a pertinent approach to the integration of contemporary architecture in a heritage setting.
+ This is the concept that best fits the context of Old Aylmer.
+ The project offers a very high level of interior luminosity.
+ Great potential for a "green" roof.
+ Articulated massing removes the image of a "box".
+ Beautiful project with a wide variety of atmospheres and spaces.
+ Beautiful scale in the expression of the envelope and tectonics.
+ Beautiful oblique gesture from the ground-floor facade on the Principale Street, towards the Memorial Park.
+ Appropriate location of the main entrance, on the corner of the street, which is also safe, taking into account pedestrian crossings (on the corner of the street).
+ The project's excellent frontage to Memorial Park.
+ The interior layout is magnificent, with good visualization of viewpoints when descending the main staircase, for example.
+ Beautiful idea of interior courtyards at the heart of the project, bringing in plenty of light.
+ Architectural design reflects the times very well.
+ Beautiful presence of exterior features and links with the context.
+ The beautiful verticality of the interior provides a good reference point to facilitate the reading of the internal spatial organization.
+ On a neighbourhood scale, a fine expression of an exceptional public space in dialogue with the urban fabric.
+ Beautifully fragmented facade rhythms in dialogue with the grain of the district's urban fabric.
+ Beautiful coherence of the whole.
+ Clear spatial organization in plan.
+ Nice flexibility potential (or nice robustness of the architectural party) for future interior rearrangements.
+ Beautiful transparency, rhythm and sensitivity expressed by the envelope.
+ The right choice of terracotta, which lends a certain nobility to the whole.
+ The image of the river bank and its reinterpretation is very beautiful.
+ The parking lots are beautifully integrated into the landscape.
+ The language expressed by the envelope, which harmonizes on all four (4) facades.
+ The project will be robust for long-term redevelopment, and will evolve well.
QUESTION MARKS
+/- The use of the "green" roof and its future use if no function is foreseen.
COMMENTS FROM THE JURY
For the development of the winning project, during the follow-up to the competitions.
1- Evaluate the possibility of providing the roof with a use to ensure safety.
2- Validate the relevance of providing a protected outdoor space at roof level.
3- Validate the visual impact of roof constructions (lean-tos).
4- Validate the location of the return chute and validate the link with the sorter.
5- Ensure vigilance regarding the integration and formalization of mechanical conduits.
6- See to the rationalization of work spaces for administrative spaces.
7- Validate the location of the director's office and the proximity of the toilets.
8- Enhance the experience of the universal accessibility pathway by sharing the experience of users.
9- Validate the layout of the underground parking lot to ensure smooth operation.
10- Ensure the safety of pedestrians near the entrance to the underground parking ramp, in relation to circulation around the perimeter of the building.
11- Provide samples of facades, including terracotta brise-soleils.
12- Validate the location of operable windows, in strategic locations in connection with the openings planned for the interior courtyard.
13- Validate the presence of the interior book chute.
14- Plan waste sorting for the site layout.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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