Interiors like these are bound to impress any book lover
April 23rd is World Book Day, and we are sharing a few interiors designed by Registered Interior Designers who created spaces to inspire and attract long time book lovers and novel readers alike.
By using their creative vision and expertise, these Registered Interior Designers have created bright, bold, and contemporary spaces through the clever use of natural light, colour, and materials.
Opening a new chapter in retail design
The creative brief for this Indigo store was clear: the experience was to become the antithesis of a traditional book store. Understanding the notion that books were just the beginning of a larger narrative to enrich our lives, the design team came up with a design concept that kept the books at the heart and soul of the experience.
The beauty of this design shines when entering a specific zone as everything is proportioned to resemble entering a private residence. There is a clear sense for what each department is about - in Home, there’s a fireplace and bookshelves resembling someone’s personal library, whereas Room Of Her Own carries a more feminine, softer palette and features a beautiful apothecary unit of metal and glass.
Interior Designer: Diego Burdi, ARIDO
Design Team: Tom Yip, ARIDO
Design Firm: Burdifilek
Photographer: Ben Rahn, A-Frame Studio
Toronto’s Albion Library turns the page on dated institutional design
Albion Library is much more than a place to house reading material. Located in Toronto’s Rexdale neighbourhood, the library functions as a social epicentre for the surrounding community. The design solution needed to address deficiencies in the existing building and the community’s concerns around inclusivity, accessibility, wayfinding, public safety, and access to light and nature.
Inspired by the aspirations of the community, the design team used the concept of a walled garden to address the need for a safe space and respite from the car-dominated context. A coloured scrim of terracotta ribs wraps the building, evoking a garden in bloom and mirroring the diversity of the community.
Internally, the library is dominated by a folding timber roof that slopes towards the courtyards. The warmth of the wood structure plays off the lush texture of the courtyards—which are visible from every corner of the building.
Interior Designer: Joanne D'Silva
Design Firm: Perkins and Will
Photographer: Doublespace; Rodrigo Chavez; Toronto Public Library Staff
History and progress are the inspiration for these university spaces
TMU's Podium Building, built in the 1970s, houses both the Archives - the university's institutional memory, with records spanning 200 years - and Special Collections, a treasury of photography, film and cultural history objects. These spaces were windowless, poorly lit, haphazardly organized, and split between two floors. Similarly, the Library's Information Technology Services (LITS) group occupied several small, outdated offices.
To realize the potential of these collections and services, the design team created a bold and coherent visual identity for these facilities, consistent both with TMU's branding (yellow and blue school colours), and with the sense of historical continuity appropriate for a major archive.
Interior Designer: Valerie Gow, ARIDO
Design Firm: Gow Hastings
Photographer: Tom Arban
