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The seamless 1990s addition, at the left, extended the building to the west and the expanded facility flanks the entire length of the square opposite
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The original volume of the library building occupied the south-east corner of the site and faced east to Grand Ave
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The north elevation and entrance from the rear parking lot with the original building to the left
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The original monumental entry portico was enclosed in glass when the entrance was relocated to the south elevation
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The double-height entrance addition facing the Square, with the original library building to the left
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The skylit atrium originally accommodated a major stair connecting the two floors
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The original monumental recessed portico was enclosed as a reading room
GALLERY ENTRY
Galt Public Library and Art Gallery
1 North Square, Cambridge, ON.
CONSTRUCTED 1969
“The original 1969 building is an exemplary work of late-modern design, showing influence via the contemporary work of Philadelphia architect Louis Kahn…. The expression is uncompromising in its abstraction, its monolithic brick planes relieved only by the exposed edges of roof and floor slabs. The rigour of the geometry lends the whole a monumental scale, appropriate to the nineteenth century churches and courthouse on the adjacent square. Subsequent alterations in 1982 and 1992, by the original architect, have filled in the deep exterior recesses with glazed walls, greatly simplifying the sculptural and geometric effect.”
Steven Mannell – “Images of Progress 1946-1996: Modern Architecture in Waterloo Region”
Resources
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