Extension of Memorial Park
After a thorough reading of the public hearings report and conversations with local residents, including the citizen's committee, we came to understand the crucial role played by Memorial Park in the lives of Old Aylmer residents. Our urban design aims to intensify this desired relationship between Place des Pionniers and the park, and to create an urban ensemble with synergistic qualities. By creating a setback on the east side, thus freeing up a fairly wide forecourt facing the park, we create a small, open and flexible public square that adds complementary functionalities to the area. Like a blank canvas, the almost entirely mineral square offers a multi-purpose space that citizens can appropriate in a multitude of ways. Open-air cinema evenings, street performances, a gathering space for school groups, an extension of the Christmas market taking place in the park, and so on.
The group of interior functions on the east facade of the project - the hall, the multi-purpose room and the sanitary block - will support events that may take place on the square. Even when the library is closed, the public will be able to go to the toilet, quench their thirst or warm up in winter. Large windows create total permeability between the multi-purpose hall and the square, allowing people, equipment and furniture to pass easily through to the forecourt.
Although the project is largely oriented towards the square and the park, the relationship with Principale Street is not neglected. A second, equally important point of entry opens up in the center of the south facade, offering direct access to the heavy pedestrian traffic on Principale Street. The two entrances converge naturally towards the central reception area, allowing fluid circulation towards the library or service center, regardless of the direction of arrival.
Spatial organization
By intimately interweaving the two programs rather than strictly superimposing them, a spatial richness is created that benefits both the library and the administrative center. Although functionally separated on the intermediate floors, the two programs intertwine on the building's more public floors, i.e. the first floor and roof.
The primary objective of this interlocking design is to connect the administrative center more closely with the urban space of the sidewalk and square. Indeed, once the functions related to citizen services have been moved to the second floor, a double-height structure physically and visually connects the square-side entrance and the service center reception area on the 2nd floor. It is therefore easy to establish visual contact with the CS reception area from the entrance hall, and to access it via the staircase running along the facade, without necessarily having to use the elevator. The IT departments, which have virtually no contact with the public and operate independently of the SUDD and SLSDC offices, are located on the third floor of the building. The functions shared by the three departments, i.e. the main meeting rooms, are located on the roof, allowing all users to enjoy the view and the terraced layout. We imagine that this sporadic to-and-fro between the usual office spaces and the meeting rooms with their spectacular views will become a breath of fresh air, an inspiring and welcome change of context for employees.
(From competitor's text)
(Unofficial automated translation)
POINTS OF INTEREST
+ The minimalism of the project's architecture and organization.
+ Nice security presence on the "green" roof with the functions and activities that are present.
+ The open space in front of the Memorial Park.
+ The interior atmospheres reflect a very fine, refined ambience.
+ The warm ambience of the interior perspectives.
QUESTION MARKS
+/- The exterior expression raised many questions about the desired integration into the Old Aylmer area.
+/- The project has a massive, almost brutalist appearance.
Doesn't seem to have grasped the finesse of urban integration.
The hardness and materiality of the proposed architectural envelope.
+/- The tectonics of prefabricated concrete and enamelled sheet metal.
The Cartesian volumetry is not inviting.
+/- The mineralized aspect of the proposed Place.
- Difficulty in grasping the link between the expression of the project and its materiality in relation to the context.
+/- Significant vines in the expression and reality of maintenance and upkeep.
- Functional distribution over five (5) floors with regard to control, which must be ensured by staff.
(From jury report)
(Unofficial automated translation)
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