Catalogue 22/Glowing Stacks - Bookstore

Part of Catalogue 22, Catalogue 22 on Google Maps

Designer: Stephan Wolba
Degree: B. Architecture
School: Carleton University
Year: 2009
Location of Project: Bank Street and Third Street, Ottawa
Project Status: Unbuilt

The main feature of the bookstore is the central book stack around which the building is organized. Sitting at an oblique angle in the space, the central stack compresses the space at the front of the building, and releases the viewer into the triple-height performance and exhibition space at the rear of the building once having passed through the stack. Stretching the height of the entire building, the main stack helps to orient a person in the building and is the main structure around and within which circulation occurs: a glass-enclosed elevator and stairs that wrap the stack ensures that the collection of books are being explored by moving through or around them. For this project, a detailed design of the central stack and possible lighting conditions that it could take on were emphasized.