Library Buildings around the World

The design team worked with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to fully renovate the existing 33,000 sf, 1967 facility and provide a
9,000 sf addition which facilitates a complete reorganization of library services.
The existing building was completely transformed by removing its uninsulated, single glazed envelope and expanding the structure
to enlarge the facility and to give shape to a building which would have a greater visual presence when approached from all nearby
streets. The new exterior wall assembly helps to provide for a highly sustainable building with a thermally superior envelope.
At the interior, the space was reorganized to locate all of the main library services, including adult, teen and children’s department
services on a single floor with maximum staff sight lines to minimize staffing requirements. Accessibility, both physical and visual, is
important to the visitor experience. That the library is welcoming to its diverse customer base, and that all visitors can orient
themselves to the space immediately upon entry ensures that services are readily perceived. An atrium connects the first floor to the
second floor. At the second floor, four meeting rooms, two which can be combined by way of a folding acoustic partition into one
large room, were provided along with open office space for central library operations. (EDGE)
The expansion/remodel of the East Liberty Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP) added a two-story 9000 square foot
space that includes meeting rooms and enhanced services for patrons of all ages. The upper floor projects the structure into the
access corridors of three major streets, providing the library with a more prominent footprint. The lower level now houses the CLP
Heritage Collection.
(http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2011/12/buildings/library-building-2011/year-in-architecture-2011-fantastic-facades/)
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main Facility, Pittsburgh, PA – USA 2004
Opened: 1895
Longfellow, Alden & Harlow (later Alden & Harlow), of Boston, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[1] was the
architectural firm of Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr. (1854–1934), Frank Ellis Alden (1859–1908), and Alfred Branch Harlow
(1857–1927). The firm, successors to H. H. Richardson, continued to provide structures in the Romanesque revival style established
by Richardson that is often referred to as Richardsonian Romanesque.
Officially, the firm was Longfellow & Harlow from 1886 until March 1887, with Alden participating as its agent.[1] Then, it was
Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, until 1896, when it became Alden & Harlow.
1890: Andrew Carnegie offered the City of Pittsburgh $1 million to build and equip the Main Library and five branches.
Client : Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Project : Expansion and renovation of Main Facility Date of Completion : 2004
Awards:
This project won a Pittsburgh Chapter AIA Award in 2005 and a Info Comm/Archi-Tech Magazine Grand Prize Award in 2006.
EDGE studio provided architectural services for the renovation of the Carnegie Main Library of Pittsburgh, the first free public
library in the United States. The library established three goals for the project: to make the library a destination, increase user-base,
and make information more accessible to users.
Meeting these goals required an investigation into 1) the customers who use the library and 2) the way they search for information.
From this information, EDGE developed a plan for an efficient, user-based facility that would assimilate the library’s digital,
physical and human resources, allowing users to locate useful information quickly.
This design employs a system of glass panels as a technological platform for the display of current events, resources and relevant
items from the library’s collection in response to each user’s search. Gracefully assimilated with the historic architecture of the
existing building, the panels reveal new possibilities for discovery while allowing advanced resources and groundbreaking user
technologies to coexist with the timehonored sophistication of the nation’s first free public library. (EDGE)
EHDD Architecture ( Esherick Homsey Dodge Davis), San Francisco, California – USA
http://www.ehdd.com
Libraries:
City College of San Francisco Chinatown, North Beach Campus – USA 2012
193.032 sqf.
"Vertical" college campus provides gateway to the future
EHDD's design of the new Chinatown/North Beach campus for City College of San Francisco exemplifies our firm’s strengths:
innovative design that makes the most of its location, while respecting the interests of our client, the users, and the community.
The project is a result of over 30 years of grass-roots community activism to bring a college campus to a traditionally under-served
community. The design process required ten years of stakeholder buy-in from wide ranging interests such as the San Francisco
political community, historic preservationists, and educators. The goal of the project was to find a balance in creating a building that
fits into the nearby Financial District, Chinatown and the Jackson Square Historic District, while simultaneously incorporating 21st
century teaching, technology and innovation. The building provides 39 classrooms and laboratories, administrative offices, library
and a community room which opens up into a terrace overlooking Portsmouth Square. (A 4-story annex houses the culinary
program which includes a teaching kitchen, a community auditorium, four classrooms and a public café.) The result is an artful
combination of technology and transparency resulting in a compact (.25 acres), open and dynamic 14-story “vertical” campus
serving over 4,000 students a day in the heart of the Chinatown community.
Taking full advantage of its urban site, the project is located within close proximity to an extensive public transportation network.
Bike racks and showers are provided as an additional option for urban commuters. Almost all of the students live, work, or do
business in Chinatown and nearby neighborhoods and attend college programs during the course of their busy days in the
community. More than 90% of students walk or ride public transportation to class.
The project is slated for LEED® Gold certification, and creates a transparency that makes clear to passersby the building’s
academic purpose. In the context of a project that required the buy-in of a wide variety of interests, the ambitious green goals have
been key in winning public support and creating a building that will serve as an anchor for the community. (EHDD)
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