Novmber 15, 2018
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto and KWC Architects of Ottawa have won a competition to design a $192.9-million super library operated by the Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada.
The City of Ottawa announced Thursday that the firms, which formed a joint venture for the library procurement, are the preferred proponent to design the facility. Thirty-three submissions were narrowed to five in a request for proposal process, leading an evaluation committee to recommend entering into negotiations with the Diamond Schmitt Architects/KWC Architects team.
The facility will be built at 555 Albert St. on LeBreton Flats. (The property’s address has been changed from the previous 557 Wellington St.) The city-owned property is between Booth Street and Bronson Avenue.
The city has agreed to pay $104.2 million, plus $18.1 million for an underground parking garage, and Library and Archives will pay $70.6 million for the joint-facility, which would replace the OPL’s main branch at Laurier Avenue and Metcalfe Street. The current public library is being sold for $20 million to help fund the city’s construction bill.
The city expects the new facility to be complete in 2024.
Public consultations on the design are scheduled to begin in early 2019, the city said.