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.Our reimagine Feasibility Study formed a basis of future planning and design for this facility.