Expert: NAK Design | ArchDaily

The Waterdown Library and Civic Centre / RDHA

Cristobal Rojas — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 13:00:00 +0000

For the Waterdown Library and Civic Centre, RDHA applied the studio’s practice of customizing off-the-shelf components to create an extraordinary building from ordinary materials. This objective, coupled with the building’s location — on the Niagara Escarpment, a rocky ridge overlooking Lake Ontario — established the impetus for the building’s design. The multi-use facility, which includes a library as well as a heritage society archive, police and municipal community service outlets, and a seniors' recreation centre, unites various demographics in a single building.

The Mississauga Public Library Project / RDH Architects

Daniel Sánchez — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:00:00 +0000

The Mississauga Library Project is an adaptive re-use strategy for the major renovation and addition to the Lakeview, Port Credit, and Lorne Park branch libraries, all dating from between 1956 and 1967. The three renovations have been structured as one project, a strategy put forth by the client as a means to use public infrastructure stimulus funds in an efficient manner. Each of the three libraries are situated in park settings; Lakeview and Lorne Park are embedded within established 1950's suburban neighbourhoods and Port Credit is situated adjacent to the Credit River along Lakeshore Road, the commercial 'high' street of the old town of Port Credit.

Absolute Towers / MAD Architects

Jonathan Alarcón — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Throughout the process of urbanization, skyscrapers have been symbols of technological bravado, prime capitals and the societal projections of wealth and prosperity. This limited framework for skyscrapers often results in solutions limited by homogenous, linear structures and degenerative duplication in business districts across the globe. Forced into an unnatural state of conformity, metropolitan life is negatively affected by these unchecked, efficiency-centric development practices. Without a challenge to the status quo, our cities will continue to lack the cohesion of life as implied by the term: forest. A forest is a thriving ecosystem wherein every organism survives only in a state of symbiosis. New ambitions nurtured in a changing global consciousness challenge the aging pattern of last century's development and favor fresh thoughtful, inspiring and eloquent solutions for tomorrow's high-rises.

The Gardiner Museum / KPMB Architects

Christopher Henry — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:00:00 +0000

The Gardiner Museum is one of the world's preeminent institutions devoted to ceramic art, and the only museum of its kind in Canada. It is also designated as one Toronto’s cultural renaissance projects. The renewal project, together with the Royal Ontario Museum across the street and the Royal Conservatory of Music around the corner on Bloor Street West, will form a new cultural precinct for the city. The renewal builds on top of the original structure, designed by Keith Wagland in 1984. The third floor expansion and extension of the original footprint to the street creates a bolder image for the Gardiner, while respecting the intimate scale for which the original building was admired.

The Bloor/Gladstone Library / RDH Architects

Christopher Henry — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The Bloor/Gladstone Branch library project is a renovation and addition to a listed heritage library in downtown Toronto. The architects were commissioned to design for an additional 12,000 sqf, bringing the collection and facilities to a level consistent with that of a Toronto District Library. The final design includes major renovations to the existing building as well as the construction of an addition.