COURTYARD LIBRARY

PROJECT BRIEF The project of Collingwood branch library is an adaptive reuse project. Instead of doing any adjustment of exterior structure, the interior is the main focus of representation for the Renfrew-Collingwood neighborhood. To better serve the community, this library should meet the basic social needs for the neighbors to spend their leisure time. Collingwood branch of the Vancouver Public Library is a historical architecture. It has been serving the Collingwood community for 60 years. To maintain its heritage value, this redesign should consider its value to the community and its architecture condition at same time.

COURTYARD LIBRARY - TEA ROOM

Courtyard house (Siheyuan), a residential compound with buildings surrounding a courtyard on four sides, has been representative of housing patterns for over one thousand years in China. It has been a historical heritage deeply rooted to the specific Chinese traditions and culture. The philosophical ideology provided a theoretical guidance for practice of building houses, which is divided into two parts: Daoism and Confucianism. Daoism stressed a harmony between buildings and their environments, finding architectural expression in beautifully sited buildings and romantic ensembles, and developing artificial landscapes and ideal man-made environments. The qualities of Confucian architectonics emphasized the importance of hierarchical order, axis and symmetry to control spatial organizations. This communal library space design will keep the use of Chinese philosophical ideology. The expression of the memory of the Chinese courtyard (Siheyuan), this space shows the realization of space from the use of Chinese screens and dividers, and shows the uniform aesthetics from the layout of the space. The warm wood colour with the contrast of cool contemporary interior finishing creates a more widely accepted aesthetic.

COURTYARD - LIBRARY

Inspired by Chinese courtyard (Siheyuan), the design expresses culture, philosophical ideology, uniqueness. This space is a sensory feast, a remembering of real moments about home.