Posted June 2, 2006.

Grande Bibliothèque Issues Report on Falling Glass Panels

The Grande Bibliothèque du Québec released an independent contractor’s report May 31 on six decorative panels of glass that shattered and fell from the library’s exterior in June and July 2005. A seventh glass panel burst May 2. The report found that the glass panels tended to shatter when they were simultaneously cracked, too tightly attached to the building, and inadequately protected from extreme temperature fluctuations.

The library, which opened April 30, 2005, in Montreal’s Latin Quarter, features an exterior building envelope of some 6,200 plates of frosted, tempered glass with a green ceramic coating that evokes landscapes of the Far North.

Library spokesperson Patrice Juneau said in the June 1 Montreal Gazette that the glass broke into rounded, pebble-sized pieces that posed no hazard to the public. “This is more annoying than worrisome,” he said. A security fence was installed last year around the library and will remain in place until corrective action is taken. Building contractor Pomerleau Inc. is expected to propose a plan in early June to rectify the problem.

Posted June 2, 2006.