Vancouver Public Library

The Vancouver Public Library's elliptical colonnade, as seen in "Bastille Day."

The Vancouver Public Library (VPL) Central Branch, located at Library Square, 350 West Georgia Street, Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is one of Vancouver's most prominent architectural landmarks and one of the most frequently used exterior filming locations in both Battlestar Galactica and Caprica. The building's distinctive elliptical colonnade, evoking the Roman Colosseum, made it a natural stand-in for the monumental civic architecture of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

Architecture

In November 1990, a referendum put to Vancouver residents asked whether the city needed a new central library; 69 percent of voters supported the building program. The City then held a two-stage open competition, shortlisting three architectural teams. On August 14, 1992, Vancouver City Council announced the winning submission: Moshe Safdie & Associates with local partners Downs/Archambault and Partners. The design was described as the most unconventional of the three finalists — and the public's clear favorite.

Groundbreaking took place on February 1, 1993. The project — the largest capital project ever undertaken by the City of Vancouver at the time — cost $106.8 million for the library, retail, daycare and parkade component, with the adjacent 21-storey Federal Office Tower costing a further $50 million. Construction was completed in 26 months; the Central Library opened officially on May 26, 1995.

The building is a rectangle within an ellipse: a nine-floor rectilinear central volume housing book stacks and services, encircled by a free-standing elliptical colonnade containing reading areas, retail, and community spaces. The exterior cladding is granite quarried from Horsefly, BC. The rooftop garden on level nine — designed in 1995 by landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander — is planted in a pattern replicating the flow of the Fraser River. The library occupies 32,500 square meters (349,100 square feet) across its floors, with seating capacity for 1,200. Library Square occupies the full city block bounded by West Georgia, Homer, Robson, and Hamilton Streets.

The VPL openly welcomes television and film production at the Central Branch, which it describes as "one of Vancouver's most recognizable architectural landmarks."

Appearances in Battlestar Galactica

"Bastille Day"

The exterior of the library's elliptical colonnade is briefly visible as Helo and Sharon Valerii run through the streets of a Cylon-occupied unnamed city on Caprica. The building's curved glass and stone facade stands in without dressing, appearing as a civilian public structure in what the script treats as a relatively modern Caprican city separate from Caprica City.

Appearances in Caprica

The library is used more extensively in Caprica than in Battlestar Galactica, appearing across multiple episodes as a general Caprica City exterior and as the exterior of specific civic buildings.

Pilot

In the unaired DVD version of the Caprica pilot, the VPL exterior stood in for the exterior of Caprica City Hall. This use was retconned for the broadcast version of the episode, which replaced the library facade with a computer-generated vista. In both versions, the plaza outside the building is where Joseph Adama and Daniel Graystone meet for the first time following a court appearance, and where they agree to go for coffee.

"Gravedancing"

Clarice Willow is seen stealing an e-sheet outside the library building in a brief exterior scene.

"Blowback"

Two separate scenes in this episode use the library exterior. Joseph Adama's conversation with the Guatrau and Agent Duram's conversation with GDD Director Singh are both filmed outside the building in the same episode.

Notes

• The VPL is one of several Vancouver landmarks designed by internationally recognized architects that appear in BSG and Caprica. Moshe Safdie also designed the complementary Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts directly across Homer Street from Library Square; Arthur Erickson, whose Waterfall Building is the most-used interior BSG location, also designed the Vancouver Art Gallery (used for Caprica courthouse scenes) and Simon Fraser University (used extensively across both productions).
• Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, who designed the VPL's rooftop garden, also designed the landscape for the Waterfall Building and for Robson Square (which includes the Arthur Erickson-renovated Vancouver Art Gallery).
• The IMDb filming locations page for Battlestar Galactica (2004) lists the VPL address as "360 West Georgia Street." The correct address, as confirmed by the library's own publications, is 350 West Georgia Street.

References

External Links

• Central Library FAQ at vpl.ca
• Filming at the Library at vpl.ca
• Vancouver Central Library filming locations at MovieMaps

See also

• Filming locations (RDM)
• Waterfall Building
• Vancouver Film Studios