Story Pod
Newmarket, Canada
Atelier Kastelic Buffey

The Story Pod, a community-supported lending library designed by Atelier Kastelic Buffey (AKB), serves as a book exchange and an urban marker in the town of Newmarket, drawing curious residents from nearby Main Street and an adjacent riverside walking trail. During the day, two of the walls pivot open like the covers of a book, welcoming people inside or to gather around the front.  As users move around the box, the rhythm of its vertical slats changes.  The larger gaps, backed by transparent Lexan, allow light and views to filter through; and the widest openings display the book stacks, encouraging eager readers to enter. Visitors can take or leave something to read, or lounge quietly on the built-in seating.  At night, when the doors are locked, recessed, energy efficient LED lights, powered by concealed, self-sustaining solar panels on the roof, glow through the lattice work like a lantern, providing ambience for night markets or community events.

The Story Pod is helping to invigorate the Town of Newmarket, a suburb of Toronto. The pod, placed on the edge of a prominent, recently completed civic square in the heart of the town’s historic district, continues the municipality’s plan to use contemporary design as a means of creating a lively, current-day hub for gathering within the leafy, quaint setting.

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