The Edmonton Public Library has selected Teeple Architects Inc. in association with Architecture Arndt Tkalcic Bengert to design the expansion of the Clareview Recreation Centre and Library. The Centre is currently lacking an iconic civic presence and will be redesigned to animate the street front and promote interaction and connectivity between the two programs.
Animating the public front of the building will involve new entrances along a treed park drive with wide boulevard sidewalks, lighting, elegant street furniture and trees. The transparency of the main façade and interior walls with strategic glazing will allow the interior activities of the building to be visually accessible and inviting to pedestrians and passersby. In addition to enhancing the facility’s community presence by combining architecture with urban design, plans for the project also revolve around promoting interaction between the library and the recreation centre. Views to and from the library, community centre, street and adjacent park will intersect throughout creating a fluid dynamic realm of these two seemingly disparate programs.
The Clareview Recreation Centre will be connected to the transit station via the redesigned public drive through a woodlot within the park. By animating the main public façade and connecting to the greater surrounding community, a true civic realm will emerge that will enrich and support this Edmonton neighbourhood. The project is scheduled for completion in 2013.