Wychwood Library

Project Type
Library

Size
17,000 sq.ft

Location
Toronto, ON

Client
Toronto Public Library

Awards
Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award
Architectural Conservancy Ontario - Peter Stokes Restoration Award
OLA Library Building Award - Honorary Mention
2023 Architizer A+ Awards (Institutional - Libraries) - Finalist
Toronto Urban Design Award

This project expands and restores a well-loved 1916 historic Library. The first step was consultation with the Library administration and with the neighbourhood. The consultation revealed that this is a truly diverse community with wide range of demographics and interests. There was a consensus that it was essential to preserve and restore the original architecture while also transforming and updating the Library.

This project demonstrates that you can have the best of both worlds. It restores the original library and expands and adapts it for current uses and programs. The original library is now restored as a traditional quiet place of refuge where you access a book collection away from the chaotic outside world. It is also a fully accessible contemporary Library that is open to the community. It is a gathering place where you can participate in new and active innovative programs and services.

It has been popular for some time to use the metaphor of the “Community Living Room.” We prefer the metaphor of the Library as the “Community Kitchen.” This is the active part of the house where people gather, where the music is played, where the party happens. We use it in one way every day and differently on special occasions. It is the informal, social place where everyone wants to be.

Photographs by Doublespace Photography.