The City of Varennes wanted to offer its population a new, modern living environment—one that was comfortable and welcoming while promoting access to information, education, and culture.
For this smart building project, we designed a unique, energy-efficient building, including high-performance electromechanical systems, with a net zero objective: producing the same quantity of energy as it consumes.
As a flagship project in sustainable design, the Varennes library is the first institutional net zero building in Canada. Plus, the energy-efficiency measures put in place enabled this building to achieve LEED Gold certification.
Spread across two floors and covering a total area of 24,000 square feet, the new library offers an environment conducive to learning and discovery, with an abundance of natural light-bathed spaces. The building includes an activity room, work spaces, reading room, parenting and breastfeeding area, computer lab with state-of-the-art technology, and listening and viewing stations.
" }