Windows and exterior coverings emerging

Much is happening both inside and outside the new Brentwood Library building. The outside walls are receiving  exterior finishes. Here the limestone blocks are shown decorating the north wall of the building.

This corner window will look into the pre-school area called KidsStop with special furniture and games designed to encourage early literacy.

 

 

On the main floor people will enter into a big "urban living room". It will have soft chairs, so that customers can enjoy the newspapers, magazines and best sellers planned to be housed in this room.

The fireplace is meant to create a cozy feel. The hearth will have an electric or gas fire, but it will not be used for heating.

 

This image of the front of the building shows the many windows in the east wall. The windows are larger than in the previous building and will allow much more light to enter the library.

The surface will have subtle "fins" protruding between the windows to add a decorative element. 

                                                                                                                                                     The windows are almost all in place - just in time for winter! This image shows the second and third floors seen from the south. The windows to the left on the second floor illuminate the group study area and the teen zone, and the windows above them are for staff offices.

The centre section will have green glass mosaics inserted. This glass will complement the dark green zinc cladding planned for part of the exterior walls.

 

 

Lots happening inside the new Brentwood branch

It may seem to some that all work has stopped at Brentwood's new library branch. That is not so, however. The project is still on time, but it may be more difficult to spot exactly what is happening.

The heating /cooling ducts are being run throughout the branch. This picture also shows the sprinkler system. Electricians are hard at work stringing wires throughout the building. All of this infrastructure will naturally be hidden when the branch is finished.

 

 

 

 

 

The first curtainwall (window) panels arrived on site last week. Soon window installation will commence. The masonry work is ready to start and progress will be made with stone and brick laying, shortly.

 

In the "old branch", the ceiling's Douglad Fir beams were stained a greyish colour. That has been stripped off and we will get a chance to admire the magnificent beams "au naturel".

 

 

The upper roof is almost finished externally. On the inside, wood will adorn the flat surfaces of this interesting ceiling.

 

This image is taken from the third floor (staff offices) looking south over the area destined to house the adult print and audiovisual collections. There will also be a number of computers and a cosy living room space in front of the fire place.

 

Apart from these architectural features, furniture has been ordered, and designers are busy preparing sketches of the preschool area on the main floor.

Keep your eyes peeled! There is a lot more happening than it appears. You will get a chance to see it when the branch opens in June 2012.

The interior work starts!

The pictures in this update are from Sept 1, 2011. Throughout the Summer, work has continued on the new Brentwood Library. 

All the exterior walls are built and it is time to work on the  the many features of the interior. While construction moves inside, planning continues for details such as layout of shelving and for arrangements of furniture. A lot is going on "behind the scenes". 

 

 

 

In order to prevent rusting and "rotting"of steel beams over time, they are coated in a layer of foam. This ghost-looking worker is well protected by his mask and uniform.  

 

 

 

 

    

On the third floor the walls of the offices facing south have been framed. These offices are for the Branch Head, Operational Supervisor and the Library Service Manager.

 

 

 

 

Electrical wires running through conduits are protected against accidental damage. This building requires many outlets for computers - both library owned and laptops brought in by library users.

The back wall shows that framing has started for future drywall.

                                                                        

                                                                               

 The second floor has retained the beautiful douglas fir ceiling beams from the old building. Those and the fireplace are all that is left of the old materials. The bright light from the many larger windows show off the wooden beams well.

The adult fiction and non-fiction shelving will stand under this ceiling. There will be soft chairs in front of the fireplace for a comfortable reading area.

Quick summer work!

Over the course of a month, Brentwood Library has "grown" its walls and the interior space of the building no longer has to be imagined. The walls constructed from steel beams and cement blocks are almost complete:

 

 

Someone kindly wrote "patience" on the fence support. The project is developing according to  forecast timelines, however, so at this point we predict a late spring 2012 opening.

 

 

 

The main floor shows where the larger-than- original windows will be. It will be a brighter and bigger branch!

 

This corner is the future children's area, which gives easy access for families with young children.

 

The central part of the library in the adult area on the second floor has a special roof with several angles. The angle brackets are meant to create architectural interest as well as give support.

This image taken from the north side shows the angled roof, which will be covered by a wooden interior finish.

The image also depicts how the building steps up gradually from Brentwood Avenue. This design makes the building less imposing.

The new walls are going up!

The following pictures, taken on July 20, show great progress on the walls of Brentwood Library.

The extension to the west is almost fully clad, and the outline of the windows show clearly.  The building is seen here from the south west. The new community room on the main floor wiill be directly under the walls shown.

 

 

 

The basement has been fully filled in and covered. The main floor shown here has been poured on top of all necessary drain and plumbing work. 

 

 

 

 

 

The chimney and the roof of the original library still stand and will be an integral part of the new building.

 

The work is on schedule and developing according to plan!

Art on the Move - from Etobicoke across the City

A glorious June 14 offered perfect weather for Arts Etobicoke and Lakeshore Art's launch of five Art on the Move vehicles. This third year the event took place at the Assembly Hall off Lake Shore Boulevard in Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

                           

One of the vehicles belongs to Toronto Public Library. The Cube van was decorated by the Youth Advisory Group (YAG) at Mimico Centennial Branch. The youth worked with professional artist Amir Akbari. The left side of the delivery van, shows the actual faces of three of the youth who worked on the project.

 

  

 

Amir helped merge two original themes generated by the group into one: "The Power of the Imagination".

 

The right side of the van displays some of the many things that might be imagined based on    materials available from Toronto Public Library. The delivery cube van will be moving around Toronto displaying the art.

 

 

Some of the people directly involved - from left:

Amir Akbari (artist), Jennifer Kundakci (Youth Advisory Group leader and librarian at Mimico Centennial Library), Jackie Howard (librarian at Mimico Centennial Library) and two sisters from the Youth Advisory Group.

 

 

 

 

Even the front of the vehicle got a lively artistic rendering of imaginations at work - sprouting out of the driver's cab!

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the sponsors and the artist were acknowledged on the back of each vehicle. There are fifteen various vehicles in the City at this point (one of them a sail boat). Look out for them!

 

 

 

 

 

This year's other participants were:    - Artist Denise St. Marie and adults with intellectual disabilities from Etobicoke’s Creative Village Studio who decorateda 30ft maintenance van from Community Living Toronto (see left);

- Artist Erica Brisson worked with seniors from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) to transform a large passenger bus that transports CAMH clients;

- Artist Sandra Tarantino led a team of youth from Stonegate Community Health Centre to adorn an AutoShare car-sharing Nissan Cube;

- Artist Amanda Strong mentored youth from Second Base Youth Shelter in Scarborough to create artwork for the Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough.

  Speeches were held , first by the organizers, Louise Garfield from Arts Etobicoke and Susan Nagy from Lakeshore Arts - both Executive Directors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laurel Broten, MPP Etobicoke Lakeshore, Minister of Children and Youth services and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues and Donna Cansfield, MPP Etobicoke Centre, Parilamentary Secretary to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; Selwyn Henry representing the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Nadira Pattison, Manager of Arts Services, City of Toronto all spoke as well, and lots of press  and media folk recorded the proceedings.

 

 

After that is was cake for everyone - cut carefully by all six dignitaries!

Although this is the last year there is funding for the project from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the hope remains that someone will come forward with funds for the project to continue.

Everyone agrees it is a wonderful way to employ artists, engage community groups and enrich our city with vehicles decorated in lively themes and colours.

 

 

 

 

 

The new library steel structure is complete!

The following pictures taken June 8, 2011 show how the Brentwood Library is gradually taking shape:

  The orinal Douglas Fir ceiling and the chimney has been maintained from the old building, but new steel supports have replaced the old brick pillars. New floors are being poured, so that the new and old buildings will join seamlessly.

 

 

 

 

 

  All underground work has been completed. The existing basement will be filled in completely, and the heating and cooling system will be stationed on the roof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second floor will contain the adult and teen areas as well as the computer learning centre.

The sloping roof in the middle section is held in place by special braces which forms part of the architectural feature of the ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

The third floor is the staff office and workroom area. It will be part of a mezzanine which overlooks the second floor adult section.

This picture looks south towards Bloor Street.

 

 

 

 

 

This image is taken from the second floor looking up to the third floor mezzanine. The holes in the floor and ceiling indicate where stairs and the elevator will be placed in order to allow easy passage between all levels.

Brentwood Library's new building skeleton is emerging!

The new building on the west side of the property will be two and a half stories high. The dramatic skeleton gives an idea of the size, but is only an outline of the exciting building to come.

 

 

 

 

The skeleton is seen here from the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old building has been opened up by removal of the north wall. New windows are to be inserted in the walls, while the douglas fir ceiling of the old building will remain.

 

 

 

 

 

While construction is ongoing, the tree at the north-east corner of the property is carefully surrounded by hoarding and other materials to protect it from accidental damage.

Brentwood - Update On Construction

The mould for the foundation of the new building is seen here, ready to have concrete poured. In the distance the square frame of the elevator shaft emerges above ground.

 

 

 

 

 

The foundation wall is ready to support the new building - seen here from the south.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heavy equipment is needed throughout most of the construction phase - here to help lift boards into place for the foundation mould.

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the old building, the ceiling on the main floor has been stripped down to the joists. Soon daylight will penetrate the buiding further, for more windows will accentuate this part of the building in the new design.