Library Buildings around the World

center. The library shares the “town hall” entrance with the commons, the expanded dining room and the new servery, and it
connects to the basement level, which is dedicated to new student activity spaces. Its three entrances are adjacent to the ceremonial
stair, which connects all of the student activity spaces within the college. Thus, the library becomes the centerpiece for student life at
Timothy Dwight. (http://schooldesigns.com)
Dobbs Ferry Public Library, Dobbs Ferry, NY – USA 2003
Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, NY – USA 2003
Irvington Community Campus, Irvington, NY – USA 2003
Bronxville Public Library, Bronxville, NY – USA 2001/2002
Agnes Irwin School, Rogemont, PA – USA 1999
Gluckman Mayner Architects, New York, NY – USA
http://www.gluckmannmayner.com
Libraries:
Syracuse University, The Warehouse, Syracuse, NY – USA 2006
This project for Syracuse University is part of the Chancellor´s initiative to help revitalize the city center
by creating a dynamic downtown presence for the University. The 140.000 sf renovation of a 1920s warehouse
building is a temporary home for the School of Architecture, and a permanent downtown location for several
School of Visual and Performing Arts programs. The building houses a 125-seat lecture hall, reading room,
community and student gallery spaces, café, community and arts incubator spaces, administrative offices,
library storage, and studio and classroom space. Driven by an extremely aggresive one-year fast-track
schedule and a $50/sf budget, the facility has been fully renovated with new mechanical, electrical, plumbing,
and fire protection systems, and the installation of new elevators. A significant portion of the existing
building skin was removed in order to create transparent, lively interior spaces open to the historic urban
center. (Gluckman)
Robin Hood Library for PS 192, New York, NY – USA 2005
As part of its “Library Initiative” with the New York City Department of Education, the Robin Hood Foundation
commissioned Gluckman Mayner Architects to design a 2.400 sf. elementary school library for PS 192 in Harlem. The
renovation incorporates sustainable and child-friendly materials, as well as custom casework, into a bright, playful
and inviting space for reading. A long, stepped window seat with jewel-colored cushions serves as a comfortable
reading area and as amphitheatre-style seating for performances. Light fixtures that suggest books with flapping
wings, and a ceiling that is papered to look like a blue cloudy sky, create a whimsical atmosphere. Major materials,
including bamboo flooring, formaldehyde-free wheat straw board, and recycled plastic, were selected for their low
environmental impact and low cost. (Gluckman)
Good Fulton & Farrell, Dallas – USA
Libraries:
http://www.gff.com
Hockaday Upper and Lower School Library. Liza Lee Academic Research Center, Dallas, TX – USA
2001
In cooperation with: Overland Partners
Awards:
AIA/ALA Library Building Award 2003
Good Fulton & Farrell collaborated with Overland Partners of San Antonio to deliver three important new buildings and a
significant renovation for this prestigious north Dallas school for girls. Hockaday’s 54,000 SF Academic Research Center houses
libraries for the lower school and the middle / upper school, uniting the campus, and enhancing a treed courtyard. This linkage
addresses physical and psychological connections in a school serving a wide range of ages. The design serves as a counterpoint to the
1960’s rational concrete frame-and-infill of the original facilities. While adopting the structural rigor of the early buildings, the ARC
introduces soft curves in the same St. Joe brick. Large planes of glass are protected from the Texas sun through motorized
sunscreens. The building received design awards from the Dallas Chapter AIA and the American Library Association. (Good)
Gould Evans, Kansas City, MO – USA
http://www.gouldevans.com
Libraries:
Lawrence Public Library, Kansas MO – USA 2014
Last week (July 2011) the leaders of the Lawrence Public Library in Kansas unveiled the new design for a $19m expansion of a
library located at Seventh and Vermont Streets. Designed by Gould Evans, the expansion adds 20,000 sq ft of space to the existing
47,000 sq ft building and dramatically transforms its appearance with long horizontal windows framed by terra cotta stone panels to
give it ‘a more open and natural feel’. At the unveiling, Library Director, Bruce Flanders described the design as ‘inspirational’. But
judging from the over 100 posts on the Lawrence Journal’s web site, a local newspaper, the design has been overwhelming derided
by those who weighed in as ‘too expensive’, and ‘out of character’: not to mention ‘a butt ugly building’ that ‘looks like a child’s
Lincoln log set’.
Perhaps the comments are a sign of the times…mere tensions between a community that seeks to curb public spending and the
powers that be that see it differently. But clearly this is not the reaction one hopes for when vetting a new design to the public.
The project does have some controversial aspect s that have yet to be addressed, namely how to make the building appear more
‘monumental’ when the adjacent parking garage that is part of the project has yet to be designed and will be at least a storey taller
than the library proper, due to structural limitations of the existing library building. While the comments about the design could be
called a ‘rush to judgment’ as so much more is yet to be learned, one could equally argue that the design itself was rushed in to
public view. The integration of the parking garage is an important aspect of this project and one that is especially concerning to the
locals. Going forward, the library plans to host several public forums on the design to get more feedback before taking the plans to
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