Library Buildings around the World

Dublin Civic Center Library, CA – USA 2005
Dublin's new 38,000 sf library's design, with its signature rotunda, complements the circular forms of the adjacent City Hall. With
its iconic form and articulated use of civic materials, the facility captures and reinforces the identity of this growing community. The
plan is very open with the adult and children’s wings separated by a large daylit area housing computer terminals, reading alcoves
and periodicals collections. (BSA)
Mission College Student Center, Santa Clara, CA – USA 2003
The 45,000 sf Mission College High Tech Student Center is a mixed use facility that combines the college's Technology Center,
academic and administrative offices, bookstore, cafeteria, conference center and multi-media facilities. With its immediate success
the project began the desired reinvigoration of the Mission College campus. (BSA)
Natomas Community Center, Library and Park Sacramento, CA – USA 2001
This project for the City of Sacramento encompasses a 31,000 sf community center, a 14,000 sf library and a phased 25-acre park
that recalls the Natomas district's recent argricultural past. Received the American Public Works Association Project of the Year
Award for 2002. (BSA)
Belvedere-Tiburon Library, CA – USA 1997
Belvedere-Tiburon's 10,000 sf library houses adult, young adult and reference collections in a main gallery space, surrounded by
light-filled alcoves framing the views of the surrounding hills. The design builds on the Bay Area's arts and crafts tradition with its
shingled exterior, dominant roof forms and pergola at the entry. (BSA)
Danville Library and Community Center, Danville, CA – USA 1994 - 1995
The 18,000 sf Danville Library and 7,000 sf Community Center were designed in tandem as a civic complex surrounding a one-acre
town green. The library itself houses adult and children's services in large open rooms filled with daylight. In addition to the
comfortable reading rooms, the library provides 50 on-line workstations for children and adults. (BSA)
Burt, Hill, Philadelphia, PA. – USA
http://www.burthill.com
Libraries:
Springfield Literacy Center, Springfield, PA – USA 2010
50.000 sqf.
Project: When it opens in April of 2010, the Springfield Literacy Center will house kindergarten and first graders from the
Springfield (Pennsylvania) School District. The building is designed to provide and foster a strong connection between the students
and nature, merging the natural environment with the built environment. The facility is positioned on a wooded hillside, with two
wings that wrap around a mature grove of oak trees. A single-story wing will house the kindergarten classrooms and art center, and
a three-story wing will include classrooms for the first graders, as well as a library, offices, and spaces for special education and
multipurpose activities. As a public school building, the project had demanding budget and schedule constraints, as well as the
requirement for achieving LEED “Certified” certification level. The project’s sustainable design goals will not only reduce the
facility’s impact on the environment, but also help provide a basis on which to educate students on green practices. Elements of
geothermal heating, daylighting, recycling, and green roof systems are all “on display” for the students to see in action, providing
hands-on opportunities for learning and helping to nurture environmental stewardship.
BIM Experience: The tight integration between Revit and IES was also used to good advantage on this project, allowing Burt Hill to
perform building analysis with IES tools directly from their Revit model—even during very early stages of schematic design—to
better understand how to balance the goals of energy performance against daylighting and other requirements necessary for LEED
certification. For example, the building model was used to analyze and iterate on the optimal size, orientation, location, and glazing
of the windows to provide effective daylight levels for the young students, cut down on glare, produce comfortable temperatures in
the classrooms—and still achieve the desired goals for energy efficiency. While this project was notable for its high degree of
building analysis, the Revit building model was also essential for design visualization, design coordination, and the efficient
production of construction documentation. The Burt Hill designers participated in many informal design charrettes with community
representatives and school officials, during which the Revit model was used to explore “on-the-fly” design alternatives and capture
agreed-upon design directions and changes—which in turn resulted in the automatic update of any related building documentation.
To coordinate the building and the sloping site necessitated the creation of numerous exterior elevations and sections, which were
produced effortlessly with the Revit software. The structural engineers used Revit Structure, enabling the design teams to share their
architectural and structural models—facilitating inter-discipline clash detection as well as the coordination and the production of
construction documentation. ( http://www-autodesk.de )
To improve literacy rates, the school district implemented a curriculum that identifies individual educational needs and applies a
unique literacy education plan based on those needs. The new literacy center is the built response to educating students based on
individual learning style and achievement. Merging the natural environment with the built environment, the design features learning
centers dispersed throughout the site, ranging from science and sculpture gardens, to alphabet walks and exterior classrooms.
Sustainable design practices will not only reduce the facility's impact on the environment, but also provide a basis on which to
educate students on sustainable technology. Elements of geothermal heating, recycling, and green roof systems are on display for the
students to see, providing hands-on opportunities for learning and helping to nurture environmental stewardship. The site in turn
has become a significant force in influencing the curriculum and architecture. A education plan based on those needs. The new
literacy center is the built response to educating students based on individual learning style and achievement. Merging the natural
environment with the built environment, the design features learning centers dispersed throughout the site, ranging from science
and sculpture gardens, to alphabet walks and exterior classrooms. Sustainable design practices will not only reduce the facility's
impact on the environment, but also provide a basis on which to educate students on sustainable technology. Elements of geothermal
heating, recycling, and green roof systems are on display for the students to see, providing hands-on opportunities for learning and
helping to nurture. (Burt.Hill)
Learning Commons, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Harrisburg, PA - USA 2009
$ 73.000.000, 373.173 sqf.
As the initial building of a planned multi-year development program, the Academic Center encompasses classrooms, an auditorium,
laboratories, student team meeting areas, a library and reading room, a conference center, parking, administrative offices, and a full
floor of breakout space. The primary academic spaces are on levels 10 through 14. Immediately below are seven levels of parking.
Design was propelled by a massing strategy. Unlike conventional high rises, the building features a split elevator core. Large, precast
monoliths contain the elevator towers, opening up the center of the academic floor plates both horizontally and vertically.
Extrapolating from the original master plan’s learning pods and their central “learning commons,” we stacked the pods vertically
and linked them floor-to-floor by interconnected two-story atria. Doubling as lobbies, learning environments, and programmed
public spaces, the atria form an urban stand-in for a more traditional campus. A return air intake at the top of the stacked atria
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