St. John’s Library Restoration

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

St. John’s Library Restoration 

Public City Architecture

CLIENTS
City Of Winnipeg

AREA
7000 Ft²

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Wolfrom Engineering

MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Mcw/age

MANUFACTURERS
Vectorworks, Alumicor, Armstrong Ceilings, Assa Abloy, Eureka Lighting, Fluxwerx, Bauco Access Panel Solutions, Flor

DESIGN TEAM
Peter Sampson; Liz Wreford, Andrew Lewthwaite, Tim Horton, Taylor Larocque, Mathew Piller

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Mcw/age

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Peter Sampson

LANDSCAPE
Public City Architecture

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Winnipeg, Canada

CATEGORY
Library, Restoration

Text description provided by architect.

The St John’s Library restoration and addition involves the refurbishment of one of three 100-year old, city-owned Carnegie Libraries and the addition of a modest new entry hall which doubles as a reading room.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

Along with upgrades to building systems to meet new energy and accessibility codes, the scope of work includes the addition of a community plaza and stormwater retention garden in Winnipeg’s “North End”.

The program of requirements included both heritage restoration and exterior/interior accessibility upgrades, but site remediation and building code upgrades were equal requirements.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

Instead of adding an exterior ramp and elevator shaft to the building (a solution expressed in the program brief) a single glass addition was designed to combine the demands of accessibility and the desire for an open community reading room.

Inspired by a vitrine, the glass box showcases the heritage façade. At the interior, the façade is left in its native state, modified only by the removal of one window.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

The addition includes a lift, main stairs, a seating area, magazine racks, and a standing work table. A universal washroom is tucked behind the west corner of the heritage facade.

Above the entry vestibule, a reclaimed oak floor is a stage for commissioned public art.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

Opposite, a black background amplifies the heritage features of the Carnegie Library, and will host community quilts, sculptures, and works fabricated in the Library’s in-house community outreach program.

Column bases are designed to reflect the original masonry ornamentation below the façade’s frieze and a predominant use of black is intended for the addition to recede like a good frame might around a canvas of art.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

Outside, an expressive galvanized rain gutter waterfalls over the glass façade, a detail that seeks to draw attention to the integration of building and site in a city that has yet to embrace site-stormwater management.

In the Carnegie Reading Room, stacks remain in their original locations and the furniture has been restored.

A circulation desk in clear view is designed to be accessible to all visitors. A library manager’s office and a bank of public use computers were added to the Hall.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic
St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic

Downstairs, tutorial and community meeting rooms are provided with state of the art audiovisual and improved safety.A safe discovered in construction has become a display for Carnegie-era artifacts.

In a city facing infrastructural budget challenges, St. John’s reminds us of the value of maintaining a city’s heritage bricks and mortar while also sustaining a community’s vital social infrastructure. With attendance down and the facility outmoded, the modest $1.9 million budget came with a long to-do list.

But five years from design to construction, and a number of community engagements, heritage applications, and program reviews along the way, attendance and circulation numbers are up to nearly double what they used to be, now that the library is open to the public again.

St. John’s Library Restoration
© Stationpoint Photographic


St. John’s Library Restoration
Site Plan
St. John’s Library Restoration
Basement and First Floor Plan


St. John’s Library Restoration
Section