The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Gatineau 2 Project is a major initiative to upgrade and expand the Library’s facilities to serve the public and protect Canada’s documentary heritage.
EXP was retained by GRC/Dialog Joint Venture to provide civil and transportation engineering services for this important project. Due to the unique site and existing buildings, EXP prepared and coordinated the conceptual design for the site layout. The design was critical to accommodating a new building for the campus, supporting maximized storage capabilities and mitigating the effects of weather-related risks.
To create a safe space for the preservation of documents, EXP designed the stormwater management system to protect against flooding. EXP’s team also prepared the traffic impact study to demonstrate the adjacent roads and intersections could accommodate site generated traffic.
As the second and newest preservation storage facility on the LAC campus, the facility serves as a critical space to safeguard Canada’s culture and heritage. The state-of-the-art building has six massive archival vaults, totaling about 759,000 cubic feet (21,500 cubic meters) of storage—housing a collection of paper documents, microfilm and motion picture film significant to Canada’s national history.
In addition to the cultural significance of preserving Canadian history, the building is LEED certified and is one of the first net zero carbon archival preservation facilities in North America. With the latest state-of-the-art archival technologies, the facility also contains the world’s largest automated storage and retrieval system. The project received the RPIC Award for Design Excellence in Building and Infrastructure Projects and CCPPP Gold Award for Infrastructure.
All Photos©Ema Peter Photography
Services
Civil, Stormwater, Geotechnical