Surrey City Centre Library

Surrey City Centre Library’s dynamic, contemporary design reflects the changing role of libraries as social gathering spaces for the community, rather than an archive for books. Its completion has bolstered the momentum of Surrey’s downtown revitalization efforts, redefining this once-suburban area as a thriving destination for iconic architecture.

Bing Thom’s interest in natural daylighting largely informed the design. Since glare and steep contrasts of lighting levels are to be avoided, the building’s curving walls, tilted windows and vaulted skylights ensure light is painted across each corner of the library and its social gathering spaces.

Fast + Epp’s main challenge was to develop innovative solutions under a tight project schedule. The building had to be designed and constructed in only 15 months in order to meet a federal government stimulus funding program.

The complex sculptural shapes of this four-storey structure are formed by cast-in-place concrete exterior cladding walls at the perimeter, which are tilted at 10 degrees out-of-plane and 35 degrees in-plane. These tilted walls are tied back for gravity and seismic forces to an internal steel and concrete structure. Steel trusses at the roof level and steel framing at the third floor provide a large, column-free atrium space.