A new chapter in civic life.
Completed in 1958 as the Oakville Post Office, 193 Church Street is a distinctive example of mid-century civic architecture and a contributing property within the Downtown Oakville Heritage Conservation District. Its transformation into the new Central Branch of the Oakville Public Library continues the building’s long tradition of public service.
Challenges
The project reimagines a purpose-built post office as a contemporary library while introducing the additional space, accessibility and infrastructure required by a modern civic institution. The challenge is to accommodate this ambitious new program without diminishing the building’s International Style composition, stone-clad exterior or established presence within the historic downtown streetscape.
Solution
Working in collaboration with Perkins&Will, Boldera serves as Heritage Architect, providing conservation expertise to support the adaptive reuse and expansion.
Our work includes heritage research, condition assessment, evaluation of cultural heritage value, preparation of the Heritage Impact Assessment and development of the conservation strategy. We continue to advise on massing, scale, materiality and the relationship between the original building, its contemporary addition and the surrounding heritage district.
Rehabilitation forms the foundation of the approach. Significant materials and architectural features are being conserved and reinstated where appropriate, while carefully considered new interventions allow the building to meet contemporary functional, environmental and accessibility requirements.
The result will give a valued civic building renewed purpose—transforming a former post office into a welcoming centre for learning, connection and community life.
Project Facts
Project Year: 2024
Location: Oakville, Ontario
Client: Oakville Public Library
Status: Ongoing
Project Team
Heritage Architect: Boldera Architects Inc.
Architect: Perkins & Will
Indigenous Design: Smoke Architecture
Structural: Entuitive
MEP: BPA
Landscape: Spruce Lab
What makes this project so meaningful is the continuity of its public purpose. A building created to serve Oakville will continue doing so in a new way, as a library that welcomes, connects and belongs to the community.
eric rodrigues, heritage architect
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