Bradford West Gwillimbury Library and Cultural Center

The project for the Bradford West Gwillimbury Library and Cultural Center in Ontario, Canada by the firm Bogdan Newman Caranci Inc. won an Honorable Mention in the Institutional Category of the Ceramics of Italy Design Competition. The award was announced during Coverings, the most important northamerican exhibition of floor and wall coverings held in Orlando from 17 to 20 April 2012.
With the intention of obtaining LEED Silver certification, the architects chose Italian tiles produced by Mirage for their high quality, elegant appearance, recycled content and cost efficiency.
Established in Toronto in 1969, Joseph Bogdan Associates provides complete architectural services from interiors to urban design. It sees the profession of architect as a collective activity on the part of a multiplicity of participants.
This project for a library and cultural centre stands out for its urban characteristics.
In today’s digital age, designing a library is a complex undertaking. As well as being a place for the storage, diffusion and transfer of knowledge, it is also a centre for social gathering, a point of reference for the local community, a new « urban square » for meeting and communicating.
A library thus becomes a classic urban location, a means of political and cultural communication, an urban marketing space capable of initiating processes of urban and social remediation.
This explains Bogdan’s choice of a « normal » rather than an iconic building that is capable of integrating with the social and environmental fabric based on new criteria that increasingly reflect modern-day living needs.
For this reason, the project is inspired by the general concept of « design for all », a cultural approach that combines technical aspects imposed by legislation with the more general issues of quality of the project and quality of living. It analysed human needs at every stage of the design process to create friendly places and projects that are easy to understand and use.
This project by the Bogdan practice is designed to promote « cultural serendipity » and to counter all forms of « digital divide ».
Mirage Stone 2.0 tiles in two different sizes were used to create a random running bond pattern throughout the space. It gives life to the building but also creates a natural flow from the entrance gallery to the main atrium and up to the second floor
From large central reception « courtyard », a visually striking stairway with wooden banisters and the same grey ceramic floor tiles connects the atrium to the first floor where the open bookshelves are located and to the second-floor with the reading room.
The functional and distribution spaces are strictly defined and organised according to flow dynamics.
Outside, the double-height windows create an effect of permeability with the interior.