project
Brandon Library/Arts Redevelopment
client
Brandon, MB
size
20,000 sq. ft.
year
2022
status
schematic design
The People
“Through the conceptual design process f-BLOK offered superior service and responsiveness. They were very flexible working with different stakeholder groups and always made time to answer questions. Final product exceeded expectations!”
– Ryan Nickel, City of Brandon
The City of Brandon, together with the Western Manitoba Regional Library (WMRL), the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (AGSM) and the Brandon Museum sought to create a new vision for the first floor of a “cultural hub” building at 701 Rosser Avenue in Brandon Manitoba. Formerly the Eaton’s department store, since 2001 the main floor has been occupied by the WMRL and has had minimal upgrades during that time.
f-BLOK, together with Corey Timpson Design, Postma Consulting, and KGS Group, collaborated to create a vision for the future.
The Process
The Product
After completing intensive functional programming with the three partner organizations, a detailed site review, and a visioning workshop with all stakeholders, design options were then developed and presented to all client groups for feedback and preference. Following this process, a refined design option was further developed.
f-BLOK provided four distinct design and budget options that related specifically to the City of Brandon’s vision for the project and various levels of achievement of this vision. In this case, f-BLOK strived to show not only what was needed, but also what could be possible, helping the client to dream big about the opportunity to redevelop a historic building in downtown Brandon.
In addition to the base program identified by the client, several community oriented spaces were also included, such as the lobby/atrium, café, programmable mezzanine and various multi-purpose rooms that have the ability to be accessed beyond regular opening hours.
