Library Buildings around the World

OPN Architects, Cedar Rapids IA, Des Moines IA – USA
http://www.opnarchitects.com
Libraries:
Baraboo Public Library, Barboo WI – USA on design
Sqf. 36.800
Since 1903, the community of Baraboo, Wisconsin has respectfully preserved their beautiful, historic Carnegie library. An addition
constructed in 1982 extended the functional life of the building and preserved the main public appearance of the Carnegie design.
However times change and this growing community realized that the provision of modern library services requires a major addition
to the facility. Utilizing a Building Program from 2009, prepared by George Lawson as a working guide, the design team organized
and held a three-day public Charrette to develop the conceptual design for the new addition and renovation.
The Charrette allowed the design team, library board, community leaders, and patrons to quickly explore potential expansion
options and to clearly understand the property purchase requirements with each option. Consensus was quickly found for the
preferred design, but the challenge was that this option required an agreement to purchase additional land from an adjacent
Church. The public participation process helped garner the support of the church congregation and the Library Board was able to
successfully negotiate the purchase of additional land.
The new design preserves the setback of the original Carnegie Library and provides a new addition of the same proportion, to the
east. A new, predominately glass entry zone provides a clear delineation between the original library and the new addition, while
also solving a critical accessibility issue with the two-story Carnegie design. Careful attention to the axial design of the Carnegie
facility helped to organize the new plan and redefine the functional layout of the library to create a design that is both respectful of
the historic facility, but will also serve the library’s future needs.
For the Baraboo project, OPN Architects partnered with Dorschner Associates, a Madison-based architecture firm. OPN is
providing schematic and design development services for the project and Dorschner will provide construction documentation and
administration. Fundraising for the project has begun, utilizing the presentation graphics prepared by OPN Architects. (OPN)
Ankeny Public Library and City Offices, Akeny IA – USA on design
$ 30.000.000
OPN Architects is the primary designer of a new City Hall and Library project for the City of Ankeny. Plans locate the new facility
in the 1200-acre Prairie Trail development, a joint venture between the City of Ankeny and DRA Properties.The goal of the
development is to create a new cultural focal point for the Ankeny, a growing community just outside of Des Moines, Iowa. An 80acre
zone called the Town Center will be created at its heart built on the model of traditional Iowa town squares. Anchoring one side
of the “square” will be a new structure to house the public library and city offices. As a mixed-use structure, the project presented a
series of design challenges including establishing distinct entries for the building spaces and clear way-finding strategies, while
creating a consistent visual style and uniform appeal. Design for the building calls for a wide variety of innovative and sustainable
building options to accommodate the needs of the building’s different user groups. In addition to design, OPN Architects, working
with the Weitz Company in a design/build relationship is managing all of the communications and needs for the various
stakeholders, including Ankeny’s city administrators, council, residents, the Board of the public library, library administrators, and
associated developers.
DRA Properties, acting as the Master Developer of Prairie Trail, is working with co-developer TerreMark to create a mixed use
facility incorporating civic, commercial, residential, educational and retail components into a walkable, sustainable city center. OPN
has engaged with all vested stakeholders in a series of public meetings and presentations. During these presentations, OPN presented
concepts, collected feedback from each group, incorporated feedback into the plan and redistributed the updated results to
participants.
Future work calls for OPN to collaborate with Nilles Associates, Civil Engineers for the project, 5o5 Design and JPRA Architects as
the vision for this ambitious development is realized.
“ I will say that already we are extremely pleased with OPN and very excited to move along with them on the project! ….they are
great listeners!
– Myrna Anderson, Former Library Director, Ankeny Public Library (OPN)
Cedar Rapids Public Library Downtown, Cedar Rapids, IA – USA 2013
$ 45.800.000
In June 2008 a destructive flood swept through Cedar Rapids. Hundreds of homes and businesses were lost including some of the
city’s most prominent public structures such as the Courthouse, the City Hall and the 25-year old Public Library. The loss of the
library was particularly devastating. Everything on the first floor of the 85,000 square foot facility – which occupied a city block –
was lost to the flood including the entire adult and youth collections, public access computers, computer labs, and a state of the art
check-out system. Approximately 200,000 items in the collection were ruined. In addition, thousands of furniture items and pieces of
electronic equipment were destroyed. OPN quickly stepped in to assist by helping design temporary library spaces downtown and in
a shopping center on the west side of the city. Meanwhile the community coalesced around the need to rebuild the public library. A
dedicated team of community volunteers and the Library Board of Trustees kicked off a campaign to re-envision how the library
should function and to find a new home for this important public resource. A site was selected
The new site for the new library fronts Greene Square, a park within the urban core. Bookending the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art,
this library completes a larger urban dialogue and civic oriented zone. The building not only completes the urban edge fronting the
park, but also steps back to create a large urban plaza, an extension of the public space of the park and street. As the entire building
aims to reveal inner functions to the public, it also offers patrons and building users unprecedented views to the urban and park
settings beyond, connecting them to civic art, public gathering spaces, and programmed events.
The new 95,000-square foot library is designed to be a vibrant, multipurpose destination and a space for the community to mix and
collaborate. The design of the new library was driven by the desire to embrace openness, transparency and foster public engagement
with and within the space. With those principles in mind, the team looked for innovative ways to present vistas and views throughout
the structure while visually connecting the streetscape with the functions occurring within the building.
In keeping with the themes of openness and transparency, large expanses of glass occur at the first and second floors of the collection
spaces. Views into the building frame the rhythmic placement of library stacks juxtaposed with a lively and active Children’s
Collection. The views in and out of the collection spaces are seen from nearly every vantage point around the new library. A 200-seat
auditorium situated on the second and third levels looks outward toward Greene Square. The auditorium stage is set against a
curtain wall of glass allowing for the changing seasons and cityscape to serve as a living backdrop.
Centralized Services
The central space of the library is the Service Core Zone. This space brings together all of the core patron services in a hub and
spoke system allowing users to orient themselves in the building as well as gather to meet. The spaces and mixing of circulation paths
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