Ottawa's New Library - "We're not building a box here"

Good news on a dreary day was a quote from the City of Ottawa Library Board Chair, Councillor Tim Tierney:

"We're not building a box here." 

His comment, which hopefully extends to a collection of boxes, came as the city released a list of five teams in the running to design the joint Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada superlibrary at 557 Wellington Street.

Here's the list with links where you'll find showcase projects they have been involved with:

Bing Thom Architects (Canada) – GRC Architects (Canada)
Diamond Schmitt Architects (Canada) - KWC Architects (Canada)
Mecanoo International b.v. (Holland) - NORR Architects & Engineers Ltd (Canada)
Patkau Architects (Canada) - MSDL Architects (Canada) – GRC Architects (Canada)
Schmidt/hammer/lassen/ architects (Denmark) - KPMB Architects (Canada) - Hobin Architecture Inc. (Canada).