Library Buildings around the World

far cry from the typical academic reading room where quiet reigns. The intent of the Cafés is to encourage students to be at ease in
the library and to interact freely in small learning groups. Designed according to black box theater principles, the Cafés are wired
flexibly from below by means of raised floors and lit from above by track lighting. Integrated up-lighting under each umbrella
provides non-glare illumination for computer screens. The co-mingling of technology, theater, and retail paradigms puts the Cafés at
the forefront of library innovation. (Centerbrook)
East Hampton Library, East Hampton, CT – USA 1997
This building houses a library, community center, day care, and a senior center. Local citizens were an important part of the design
process. A committee of 35 diverse residents collaborated in a series of workshops which initially focused on the site and user needs.
Further work included "dream drawings" to supply architectural imagery. The complex site affected the design. Watercourse
setbacks, solar orientation, parking, adjacent residential and industrial neighborhoods, access and identity considerations were all
heeded. Laid out on an east-west axis, the building opens to south light and averts the cold with long roofs. The smallest component,
the Senior Center, is closest to the road and sized to match residential neighbors. The day care center follows, and the large library is
at the rear. This stepped plan gives all three parts equal recognition from the street. The building was designed like a steel framed
pole barn with space under the sloping roof used for several mechanical attics (the water table prohibited a basement). Ceilings also
rise and fall as needed, making space grand where appropriate - at the library entry and reading room, at the seniors main hall, and
at the shared meeting room. Other places are cozy - a senior fireplace niche and drop-in center, a day care aedicula, and the
children's library. Here two sets of "Three Bears" easy chairs preside. The smallest is child sized, the middle is a normal chair, and
the largest makes even adults look childlike. The building is designed to harmonize with its small village surroundings and still evoke
pride in the citizenry. Bell patterns were stenciled at entries and in the library, remindful of the town's heritage as "Belltown" (it is
the original home of our nation's bell manufacturing). The family of chimney, ventilator and bell towers spire high as civic markers,
while windows and dormers give a friendly cadence to the building's substantial mass. The long porch, anchored at the street by the
bell tower entry, ties the complex together. Overall, this building has the stature of an important public structure, its varying
functions drawing community members together. (Centerbrook)
Quinnipac University, School of Law Center, Hamden, CT – USA 1995
The 130,000 square foot law school center and library forms the west terminus of the university's "village street" established under
Centerbrook's 1979 campus master plan. This large complex is brought into scale with the rest of the campus by its division into four
wings and an overall height of two stories above grade, achieved by placing the third level library below grade. Daylight is brought
into this level by a ten-foot-wide, glass roof that extends the entire perimeter of the library wing. The library encloses 50,000 square
feet in the building, accommodating 552,000 volumes and a seating capacity of 400. The four wings form a courtyard that is the
complex's central organizing feature. The main interior hallway of the building encircles the courtyard, giving the building a clear
and memorable organization. On an emotional level, the south-facing courtyard collects the ambiance of the morning sun and a
sense of community. Café tables, chairs, benches, and blossoming shade trees adorn the courtyard's lawn and add to the attraction of
this enclave. On both a symbolic and functional level, the courtyard provides a forum for public life, a yard for the court, in effect.
Twin spires and a clock tower further distinguish the courtyard. The east spire serves as a landmark identifying the main entrance
from both the courtyard to the south and the driveway to the north. The complex's overall sociability, its places to sit on the edges of
paths, its enclaves for gatherings, its small cafés within and without, all speak to the central purpose of the practice of law and the
school itself, that of bringing people together. To enhance a sense of place, a wide array of furniture and light fixtures were designed
for the building. (Centerbrook)
East Lyme Library and Community Center, East Lyme, CT – USA 1990
This 35,000 square foot building combines a public town library with senior and youth centers, offices for the Visiting Nurse
Association and the Town Parks and Recreation Department, and a multipurpose meeting room. The town requested that each of
these maintain a separate identity and visibility while being housed in a one-story building of New England character with sloping
roofs. The site complicated the requirements. It borders residences, wetlands, and the Smith Harris House, an historic Greek Revival
farmstead on the National Register. Early studies revealed just enough room to fit the building and required parking on the narrow
site. The building was set on the north half to leave the south end as an entry and parking "orchard," sunny in winter and shaded in
summer. The tripartite building faces the parking with three open pavilion entries. The longest of these, in the middle, leads to a high
lobby in which all departments have indoor entries. The youth and senior centers claim the two other pavilions as their own outdoor
entries. The sloping roofs required by the town were massive. To break down their scale, entry pavilions and dormers, which are
Greek Revival, reflecting the Smith Harris House were added. A gallery pavilion, tall with glass and almost the same size as the
house, juts out the back of the lobby to face it. The trim and fenestration throughout the building, though newly invented, also recall
the house's style along with the stretched columnar brick piers and pediments of the three building wings. Since Greek Revival was
prevalent at the town's founding, this all helped celebrate the town's 150th anniversary. Inside, off the lobby, each facility opens
through a procession of regular spaces in irregular patterns. Especially in the library, large spaces lead to small which lead in turn to
large again to dramatize the pleasures and uses of each. In addition to administrative and technical services offices, the 18,000
square foot library includes a grand reading room. It is preceded by a checkout desk off a tapered entry hall and is surrounded by
stacks, special pods for media, new books, periodicals, a children's library, and the "East Lyme Room" with mahogany cabinets
displaying town memorabilia. Between the Senior Center and the large subdivided multi-purpose room is a full kitchen capable of
serving 400 meals. The Senior Center also offers its own meal site room, a day room, and crafts studio. The Youth Center separates
into counseling offices and a recreation hall where a snack bar and DJ booth/TV "tower of power" in the middle are surrounded by
game tables and seating. (Centerbrook)
Cherry Huffman Architects, Raleigh, NC – USA
http://www.cherryhuffman.com
Libraries:
Chatham Community Library (Central Carolina Community College), Pittsdboro, NC – USA 2010
The Chatham County Library is located on the campus of Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro. The library will serve
as the library for the community college as well as the regional public library. The Chatham County community is committed to
being leaders in sustainable design and the library design incorporates many highly innovative features. The project is on track to
receive a LEED Gold certification. The library is designed to use natural light for almost all of the functional light during daytime.
Extensive on-site daylight modeling was completed with Dr. Wayne Place. Electric lights automatically turn off when sufficient
daylight is present. The design was extensively tested through prototype models and physical analysis. As one of the ways of
meaningfully engaging the community, several artists are incorporated into the design. A mural artist is painting the children’s
program area. A metal worker is designing custom fences and bicycle racks and a ceramic artist is designing tiles for two “hearth”
features. These and several other inclusions of local artisans serve to reinforce the library as a community anchor. (Cherry)
Cameron Village Regional Library, Raleigh, NC – USA 2006
The library is located in the oldest shopping center of its kind in the southeast. The design created a window into the community,
expressing the library’s individual function while maintaining continuity with its surroundings. The library’s updated interior and
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