YCP·DESIGN STUDIO
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YCP DESIGN STUDIO

TAIPEI · SEATTLE

PUBLIC SPACE & READING

In Calgary, a book written in light.

Daylight opens overhead, above layers of curving wood. At Calgary Central Library, reading extends beyond the page to the experience of walking, looking and sharing a place with others.

Calgary Central Library: skylight, curving timber surfaces and broad steps used for sitting.
Calgary Central Library: skylight, curving timber surfaces and broad steps used for sitting.
Fine timber slats frame the skylight and the curve of the upper floors.
Fine timber slats frame the skylight and the curve of the upper floors.

01

Looking up, finding a direction

The skylight forms an elongated opening above the atrium, framed by successive curves of the upper floors. Light gives the space a direction before the eye settles on stairs, railings and activity. Darker timber-lined undersides set off the bright opening, making depth legible through contrast.

02

A stair that offers a place to stay

Some people sit on the broad timber steps, others pause to talk, and others continue upward at the side. Moving and staying share one space without requiring everyone to behave alike. The generosity visible here is concrete: width, a choice of places to sit and room to spend time without a purchase.

Walkways along the atrium reveal activity across different levels.
Walkways along the atrium reveal activity across different levels.

03

Continuity in wood, intervals of light

Close up, timber slats divide the sweeping surfaces into a finer rhythm. From farther away, they read as a continuous form. Glass balustrades, gray columns and linear lights provide intervals within it. Warmth comes through a relationship between materials, with enough continuity to connect the space and enough difference to reveal its parts.

04

An idea to carry home

A library is larger than a home, yet certain decisions translate across scales: an opening that gives orientation, a place to pause beside a route and material detail that makes a broad surface feel closer. Beyond the first impression, a space can leave the memory of having spent time there with ease.

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