Library Buildings around the World

Lawrenceville School Library, Lawrenceville, NJ – USA 1996
Case Western Reserve University, Judge Ben C. Green Law Library, Addition, Cleveland, OH –
USA 1995
Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York – USA
http://www.gwathmey-siegel.com
Libraries:
North Carolina School of the Arts Library, Winston-Salem, NC – USA in design - 2011
Yale Arts Complex. Paul Rudolph Hall – Jeffrey H. Loria Center for the History of
Art and the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, New Haven, CT – USA 2008
Allen County Public Library, Addition and Renovation, Fort Wayne, IN – USA 2007
This two-story, 127,000 square foot addition to and renovation of the existing 240,000 square foot Allen County Public Library in
Fort Wayne, Indiana creates a monumental civic building that integrates the best aspects of the existing library and acts as a
revitalizing influence in the downtown area. The design identified the basic urban and architectural strategies that met the goals of
the library and the community. The selected design gives the library, which has one of the largest genealogy collections in the nation,
an image that reflects its prominent role in the community and enhances the urban context. It will make a significant portion of the
collection "browse-able" by expanding open stacks. There are two public entrances to the expanded facility. The existing re-imaged
Webster Street entrance maintains the current easy pedestrian access from downtown and incorporates a Café and Library Shop to
permit a synergy of uses. The new Ewing Street wrap-around entrance integrates the connection to the new below-grade parking
and includes a major glass component that affords attractive views to neighborhood churches and the historic district. The east and
west entrances are interconnected by the great hall, which provides clear visual orientation and access to all library departmental
facilities and seamlessly integrates the existing renovated spaces and the new construction. The curved roof of the great hall contains
a large north-facing skylight and a shaded south-facing clerestory window, bringing daylight into the center of the building. The
great hall can be separated from the library spaces, so that community functions can extend past library hours if needed, without
compromising library security. The central great hall also houses the Circulation Desk, Central Reference Desk, self-check stations,
electronic catalog stations, and informational components, as well as stairs and elevators to the Library's second level, the new
Auditorium on a lower level, and the Garage below grade. Community use facilities are organized along the southern side of the first
floor, between the great hall and Washington Blvd. These spaces include flexible Meeting Rooms, Access Fort Wayne Television,
Community Computing and Public Computer Training, an Exhibition Gallery, the Café, and the Library Friend's Store.
(Gwathmey)
Akron Summit County Public Library, Akron – Akron, OH - USA 2004
Awards:
AIA Cleveland – Citation 2007
Associate Architect: Richard Fleischman Architects, Inc.
The 270,000 square-foot library building reestablishes the public and institutional image of the Main Library and reinforces
downtown Akron as an urban, cultural and architectural center. The design of the facility reflects the Library as a patron-friendly
place, accommodating its users in a variety of environments. The new addition negotiates the twenty-five foot difference in elevation
between High and Main Streets. A three-story atrium along High Street brings natural light down to the lowest Main Street level
and provides orientation for all patrons. The assemblage of building "objects" along Main Street includes the new library loft
addition and the new theater flanking the existing library, maintaining a pedestrian scale along the mall in contrast to the
automobile-scaled facade along High street, which is accessible by car. The building encompasses the most advanced applications of
technology and communication systems for administrative management, the processing of library records, and bibliographic and
information networks. Special design consideration was given to provide the most flexible, state-of-the-art infrastructure and
distribution systems for digital information. Numerous community spaces are provided, including a 425-seat auditorium, a cafe, a
bookstore, public meeting rooms and art exhibition spaces. An interior link to a new parking garage along High Street resolves into
a new pedestrian ramp, activating the three-story addition. An outdoor amphitheater and landscaped park complete the complex.
Middlebury College Library, Middlebury, VT – USA 2004
Awards:
American School & University Magazine Collegiate Citation 2007
The new Middlebury College Library is the first step to fulfilling the College’s master plan for the development of a campus
intellectual and social center. The library is a state-of-the-art research and learning facility, combining a traditional print collection
with the latest communications technology. Located on the eastern edge of the Front Quad, the facility also establishes a new campus
center and enhances the existing relationship between both the College and the Town. The three-story, 143,000-square-foot facility
accommodates the increasing use of technology in teaching and research. It also provides expansion space for the College’s growing
collection of printed materials to support evolving curriculum needs. The library is architecturally consistent with the other
buildings on the historic front quadrangle in both its materials—limestone, granite and marble—and its scale. The project
reconfigures a composition of existing roadways, buildings and prominent public spaces, establishing a new campus center that fits
into existing view corridors and pedestrian circulation routes. Library interiors provide efficient and flexible space that will serve the
College’s needs well in to the next century. This includes increased seating to accommodate planned growth in the student body.
Because of the importance of interactive and collaborative learning in the residential liberal arts environment, most seating is in
group study and meeting rooms. In keeping with Middlebury College’s overall concern for contextual and environmentally sensitive
design, the project is designed to meet a high rating for the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standard for
environmental efficiency.
New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Library and Renovation Project, New York, NY – USA
2004 Project
The Mid-Manhattan Library is the main circulating library in the New York Public Library system, currently serving 4,000 New
Yorkers daily, with 40% coming from boroughs other than Manhattan. Presently, this facility is severely overcrowded, congested,
and unable to fully meet the needs of New Yorkers for library information resources, particularly through information technology.
The proposed $120 million renovation and expansion project of the Mid-Manhattan Library will better meet the daily
information needs of 8,000 New Yorkers on-site and thousands more electronically, creating a powerful catalyst for educational
opportunity and economic growth.
The current Mid-Manhattan Library occupies a prime location on Fifth Avenue and 40th Street in the former Arnold Constable
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