Clayton Heights Public Library

The library proposal took on a number of influences throughout the course of the studio, which sought to introduce a new process of design that begins with the detail. The studio group took part in an intensive weekend long workshop to develop wood connections, cooperatively led by Achim Menges of the Institute for Computational Design at the University of Stuttgart. The studio also required the individual development of a manifesto that would drive the key design ideas for the project. My manifesto predicated that a project should contextualize the enclosure through an amplified and re-envisioned regional expression for greater Vancouver.

The studio culminated with a library proposal for the Clayton Heights neighborhood of Surrey, BC. The project seeks to bring the community across the site by passing through the library, whilst embodying an outward and welcoming design approach. Driven by the development of a unique structural system, the building utilizes a hybrid structure, whereby the form is defined by an exterior shell of douglas fir posts and the interior is expressed through curvilinear laminated veneer arches. These two systems never actually connect, but apply pressure at two key moments of the curvilinear span to add integrity, but also maintain some movement. Each performs a different role in relation to the structural concrete slabs, as is demonstrated in the main connection detail.