Ādisōke [Ottawa's New Central Library] | U/C

[eltodesukane]

https://adisoke.ca/news-post/adisoke-winter-2026-update/
Those photos, straight from the adisoke website,
are of such low quality (300x212, or 212p)! Unbelievable!

[Uhuniau]

I remain unconvinced that this LAC-OPL joint facility is a good idea.

[golfguy9]

Based on this interior photos, this is not even close to being finished.

Then they need to move in all the shelving, books, artifacts, etc...

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

I remain unconvinced that this LAC-OPL joint facility is a good idea.

And?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

And?

Just an observation, as one might make in a discussion, like on a discussion forum.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Some activity in the park area on the west side of Adisoke. The concrete bench structure nearest the building seems complete.


https://adisoke.ca/explore/

I look at this kind of plaza and the rendering shows all kinds of people there. Why are they there, other than going to and from the building?

If we want plazas to be successful with lots of people milling about, there needs to be adjacent cafes encouraging people to linger.

Of course, there is a traffic sewer nearby not shown.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I look at this kind of plaza and the rendering shows all kinds of people there. Why are they there, other than going to and from the building?

If we want plazas to be successful with lots of people milling about, there needs to be adjacent cafes encouraging people to linger.

Of course, there is a traffic sewer nearby not shown.

Hopefully they are some of the 17000 people coming to or from our new arena. Or maybe meeting up before walking over the Bluesfest. Or before or after Sunday Bike Days. Not to mention all the people that live in existing neighbourhoods to the south or new projects to the north. The library will be a destination of sorts but I also think this area has the potential to be a very vibrant place, even as a trailhead for the river and Trillium pathways nearby.

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

Hopefully they are some of the 17000 people coming to or from our new arena. Or maybe meeting up before walking over the Bluesfest. Or before or after Sunday Bike Days. Not to mention all the people that live in existing neighbourhoods to the south or new projects to the north. The library will be a destination of sorts but I also think this area has the potential to be a very vibrant place, even as a trailhead for the river and Trillium pathways nearby.

If there's a cafe there, I can see this being quite a popular snack stop.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I look at this kind of plaza and the rendering shows all kinds of people there. Why are they there, other than going to and from the building?

If we want plazas to be successful with lots of people milling about, there needs to be adjacent cafes encouraging people to linger.

Of course, there is a traffic sewer nearby not shown.

I think I see a Jane's Walk group gathering in the upper-left area to discuss the benefits of this, and adjacent developments, to the renewal of the neighbourhood.

[ponyboycurtis]

We would have been so well served by keeping the LRT buried until the transitway trench. Cut and cover would have sufficed with some open portions for ventilation. It's such a barrier for what is supposed to be our new half of downtown.

Not only the LRT line.. but Booth itself is a massive barrier from Fleet to Albert. Visually a massive barrier at the very least. I would imagine connections to the LRT and aquaduct will be improved as the portions west of Booth get developed but I think it would be easy to argue the raised incline is a negative. I know Albert is a higher elevation than Fleet but I can't help but feel like it could have been mitigated. If you look from the station to the north it's just a hemmed in road with barriers on each side for quite a distance.

The nexus our newest higher order density neighbourhood is a pair of intersecting barriers.

This plaza is the only spot along Lebreton Flats where it crosses over. So that could be good for people meandering along the aqueduct. Might end up feeling like a bit of a gee what if?

It may not seem like like a barrier now with the barren fields and the spartan aquaduct but that LRT line placement stinks. I think when you build projects you have to look at like.. hmmm.. what can we spend a little more on but get much higher value. Why do I feel like the city had some incentive to "show" the trains since from University to Dominion they would have been otherwise hidden from view. I doubt that's the case but it's certainly a thought.

[eltodesukane]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

We would have been so well served by keeping the LRT buried until the transitway trench. [..]
It's such a barrier for what is supposed to be our new half of downtown.

Yes! (It's obvious, but the powers that be didn't care)

[AuxTown]

Maybe I'm just not a long-term enough thinker, but I don't really see it as all that bad. Most of the action will be north of the tracks and east of Booth...where there are continuous connections. The only thing south of the tracks is going to be the arena and surrounding towers; something that might be good to have a little separation from.

The Booth bridge is very pedestrian-friendly and will be a fine connection over the tracks. https://maps.app.goo.gl/AAvXyygMZeX9k7Vi7

This neighbourhood is 20-30 years from needing a cut and cover for the tracks IMO...I'll probably be dead by then

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

If we want plazas to be successful with lots of people milling about, there needs to be adjacent cafes encouraging people to linger.

Originally Posted by dougvdh

If there's a cafe there, I can see this being quite a popular snack stop.

Here's the floor plan. Theatre space will be on the side of the plaza, which I think was a mistake. The theatre should have been on other non active side.

The cafe is #4 off the Albert west entrance #5. It's not too far from the exit on the west plaza, though it's one level up.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80dis%C5%8Dke#

Level 5 has another cafe, and there's I believe a restaurants as well on one of the intermediate levels.

I'm also disappointed they removed the one outdoor roof top space.

Overall this will be a fantastic space, but they made a few disappointing layout decisions and value engineering.

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

We would have been so well served by keeping the LRT buried until the transitway trench. Cut and cover would have sufficed with some open portions for ventilation. It's such a barrier for what is supposed to be our new half of downtown.

Not only the LRT line.. but Booth itself is a massive barrier from Fleet to Albert. Visually a massive barrier at the very least. I would imagine connections to the LRT and aquaduct will be improved as the portions west of Booth get developed but I think it would be easy to argue the raised incline is a negative. I know Albert is a higher elevation than Fleet but I can't help but feel like it could have been mitigated. If you look from the station to the north it's just a hemmed in road with barriers on each side for quite a distance.

The nexus our newest higher order density neighbourhood is a pair of intersecting barriers.

This plaza is the only spot along Lebreton Flats where it crosses over. So that could be good for people meandering along the aqueduct. Might end up feeling like a bit of a gee what if?

It may not seem like like a barrier now with the barren fields and the spartan aquaduct but that LRT line placement stinks. I think when you build projects you have to look at like.. hmmm.. what can we spend a little more on but get much higher value. Why do I feel like the city had some incentive to "show" the trains since from University to Dominion they would have been otherwise hidden from view. I doubt that's the case but it's certainly a thought.

The City had a limited budget and did the best they could (choice of rolling stock aside). It certainly wasn't a "show" the train decision. The Feds should have stepped up and funded a better solution for LeBreton, but the NCC at the time was not particularly collaborative, and the Government at the time wasn't interested in making Ottawa a World Class Capital.

I think the Sens and RVL had some good ideas with their 2015ish bid that would have seen the line covered through LeBreton, but unfortunately that entire plan fell through.

With the park taking up most of the space to the north, it's not as critical as it was with the RVL plan. If anything, being able to see the train pass under the arena, and giving train riders views of the park and river, is probably a good thing.

Pimisi Station provides a great link between the north and south of the site, but then there's a huge gap to Preston. I'd want to see one of two additional links in between.

I was also very disappointed when Odenak was initialy proposed without a section over the tracks, but at the end of the day, it will be a great addition to the area.

I do want to give huge credit to the City for the design of Pimisi Station (in contrast to Bayview which has a pretty terrible layout). Truly a fantastic piece of infrastructure for the Flats. Very prominent, wide platform, multiple entry points, and elevator from Booth just for the pathway, the fare free link to cross the tracks from the bottom level. Only thing I would add is a crosswalk between both Booth entrances to provide access to the free elevator down to the aqueduct on the west side.

[rocketphish]

Ādisōke library project goes further over budget, faces more delays
New funding request would push budget to $352 million, still no word on opening date

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: May 22, 2026 7:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 22

The Ādisōke library project on LeBreton Flats is facing another budget overrun, a few more months of delays and still does not have an opening date to the public.

That update came Friday in a new report to council's finance and corporate services committee seeking an additional $18.5 million in funding for the project.

Last year, city staff announced that the contractor was reporting delays and the library would not open to the public in summer 2026 as previously expected.

At the time, the contractor was expecting to complete the project in September of this year, but staff could not give a timeline for when it would be actually open to the public.

The new report says that the contractor's schedule has "not stablized" in the months since. Instead, it has faced "additional delays."

Construction is now about 85 per cent complete. The report says the contractor's most recent schedule submission gives a date of December 2026 for completing the project, though the city still can't give a date for when it will open.

That's about 12 months behind the contractual date for it to be completed.

At the same time, the city said the new timeline will mean added costs for the project, which already had a budget of $334 million. The report says the project has already "reached the limits of its approved funding."

The extra $18.5 million is supposed to fund oversight and support services, plus top up for the contingency buffer.

The city will have to kick in most but not all of those funds, since Ādisōke is a joint project of it, the Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada.

The project has faced repeated opening delays. Late last decade the hope was 2024. Until last year, it was set for summer 2026.

It has also faced previous budget increases.

The cost was initially supposed to be fixed at $175 million, with the federal government paying $71 million. The city would then pick up the remaining $104 million, plus an additional $18 million for a 200-spot underground garage.

That increased 75 per cent to $334 million once the bids were in back in 2021.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/adisoke-library-ottawa-timeline-cost-schedule-9.7209623