Halifax Central Library – Halifax

“I particularly remember visiting the Halifax Central Library. The library is a neighbour to my School of Architecture, making it a space which has welcomed me for many years and across many roles — tourist, student, friend, book borrower, computer user, etc. With these shifting roles, the library somehow shifted the way I experience it. I was a tourist in Halifax the first time I visited the Library. Upon approach, I was immediately taken by the shifting glass volumes and large central staircases which weave overtop each other. In these first moments, I interpreted the building as large, open, bright, and public. My perception of the library began to change with more and more visits. As a student, I learned how the library could be a place with quiet enclaves for reading and writing, large tables for group meetings, dark rooms for viewing film, and an auditorium for public debate and performance. Corners of the library and the spaces between the stacks served as refuge for grieving, confiding, and sharing intimate moments with friends. It’s funny that the expected use of the library — somewhere to reference books, access resources, and gain knowledge — was the use I relied upon the least. I think it is due to its range of spatial qualities — light/dim, soft/hard, high/low, natural/built, loud/quiet, big/small — that I keep getting surprised with how I can use the same space repeatedly. Beyond my own experience, I have witnessed the library become home, sometimes in a literal sense, to many people. The library’s outdoor spaces to the front and back share similar contrasting qualities to the interior. A combination of landscape, hardscape, lighting, seating, and coverings make the exterior spaces suitable for many uses. I have seen art shows, protests, busking, dancing, eating, crying, shelter seeking, animal handling, among other activities take place around the building.” (Booklet Positive Lived Experiences of Quality in the Built Environment 2023, p.44).

Google map link: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Halifax+Central+Library/@44.6427638,-63.5777588,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x4b5a223391907ad3:0x520186fbd5f800ac!8m2!3d44.6427638!4d-63.5751839!16s%2Fm%2F0zmy64q?hl=en