This project provides a shared home for the Library and City Hall on the same small urban site, connecting it to the adjacent historic Courthouse, Farmers’ Market, and Welland Canal. The design capitalizes on the potential of the sloping site by offering each user, within a single building, their own identity, associated entrances, and public realm at grade. An upper-level plaza fronting East Main Street functions as the city’s main civic plaza. The plaza’s street edge is defined by a shallow reflecting pool that transforms into a skating rink during the winter. The library at a lower level, also at grade, faces the canal and creates its own equally important civic space. The design has not only created state-of-the-art facilities for the city but has played a major role in the revitalization of downtown.