Cycle Central

A place to learn

A place to work

A place to gather

Cycle Central is on an extremely accessible site at the corner of Broadview and Danforth, along the Danforth bike lane and across from Broadview Subway Station. The building responds to this availability by opening itself to the corner and being layed out for varying user experiences. Each floor has set programs intended to increase and improve urban cycling, and the depth one travels into the building directly correlates with their perspective time there.

The average distance Canadians are willing to bike is 10km. Cycle Centrals 5km radius encompasses much of the Toronto/East York wards, which is a significant area for cycling and cycle culture within Toronto as a whole. To further promote utilitarian cycling, the building supports more than just the physical upkeep of bicycles, it acts as a destination. One program that supports this is the top floor which is used as a lecture space focusing on topics such as cycling safety in the chaos of Toronto traffic.

The building utilizes a perforated second facade to allow in light while visually separating the interior from the street. This helps make the library visually quite.

The libraries shelves are placed in relation to the 3 skylights, the largest of which they are radially oriented around. The Shelves then open in places to create seating within them for people to quickly flip through books, the largest seats located below the other two skylights. The radial alignment of the shelves creates a series of splitting pathways, at the ends of which the second facade opens, visually elongated them and drawing you through the isles of books.