The winning design in an international competition, the 350,000-square-foot Grande Bibliothèque houses two major collections for Quebec, the Collection québécoise and the Collection universelle. These collections are housed within large wooden containers, and are accessed from an architectural promenade that rises upward from the entrance of the library through a series of reading rooms.

The public library consolidates collections dispersed throughout he province to create a resource library for the region and a central public library for the city of Montreal. At 400,000 square feet, the building contains four major components: a general library, a children’s library, the Collection Nationale (historic documents pertaining to Quebec), and assortment of public spaces. Below grade, the library is joined to a major intersection in the Montreal metro system.

“At once urban, human-scaled and extraordinarily open, the building succeeds by its exquisite use of materials and detailing both inside and outside,” said the jury. “There is a peaceful, tranquil feel that provides a welcome contrast to its grand urban gesture, masterfully executed.”

The building opened in Spring 2005, and is featured in the monograph Patkau Architects, recently published by the Monacelli Press. The Architect of Record for the project is a team comprised of Patkau Architects, Croft Pelletier architectes and Menkès Shooner Dagenais architectes associés.