Mount Royal University – Riddell Library and Learning Centre
The new center of a growing campus
Civic & Culture, Higher Education
The Riddell Library and Learning Centre is central to the Mount Royal University campus, offering services and support to the entire community. It is an open and welcoming building providing ready access to the plaza. Glazed facades overlook the green space and allow for views into the Library and Learning Centre.
Designed to meet LEED® Gold Certification, horizontal and vertical exterior elements enliven the facades and provide sun shading. The central concourse is located at the heart of the building with clerestory glazing above, allowing increased daylight into the building.
- Location
- Calgary, AB
- Size
- 240,250 sq ft
- Client
- Mount Royal University
- Completion
- 2017
- Sustainability Targeting LEED® Gold certification
- DIALOG Services
- Collaborators
Carson McCulloch Associates Ltd.
RJC Engineers
Stuart Olson Construction
Mulvey & Banani International Inc.
Smith + Andersen
Architecture
Sustainability + Building Performance Consulting
Glazed facades provide outlook onto the green space and allow for views into the activity of the Library and Learning Centre.
The four-storey central concourse is located at the heart of the building.
Clerestory glazing above the central staircase allows for increased daylight into the building.
There are four floors of public collaborative spaces, offices and administrative spaces, classrooms, labs and library collections.
The library provides adaptable spaces that support multiple modes of learning and it acts as a social hub through its public spaces.
The focus is on social spaces as a teachable opportunity, with an abundance of collaborative public, semi-private and private spaces.
The light fixtures provide a warm, indirect glow while allowing sufficient supplemental light.
Wood ceilings enhance the warmth of the interior spaces.
The Team
Clay Riddell, Donor“It looks as though it is on the leading edge of what libraries are these days… it is about education and the future of our city and province.”
The challenge: to animate the building’s facade with a meaningful narrative.
The idea of using binary code was explored. Here, a quote from Steinbeck is rendered in binary.
MRU’s motto, ‘Quam Bene Non Quantum,’ was chosen and rendered into binary code.
The resulting pattern was incorporated into this rendering of the building’s west elevation.
‘Mount Royal University’ is displayed in binary on the top and bottom rows. MRU’s motto is incorporated into the middle row.