Stanley A. Milner Library

Manasc Isaac was commissioned to reimagine the Stanley Milner Library in downtown Edmonton. The reimagined library will be enhanced in its outward appearance, interior space, energy efficiency, and operating cost-­effectiveness, all in order to take advantage of its central location as a fostering place of reading, working, and learning.

The current library building was designed in the 1960s and has since been a fixture on Churchill Square. Inside the podium and four-storey tower lie the general library space, theatre, coffee shop, office space, and children’s library. Through our ‘reimagine’ design process, we sought to transform the library from a failing building into a cost-­effective asset, from an uncomfortable space to a healthy workplace, from an aging monument to an active public
element of Edmonton’s civic core, and from being reliant on artificial energy to being a more sustainable building system.