Library Buildings around the World

spaces. Along a broad interior loggia set behind the glass façade, student reading areas are placed against the glass and connect to
the rest of the building via bridges that penetrate a wood wall punctuated with windows and display cases in an orthogonal but
playful geometric pattern. The glass display cases, visible inside and out, will accommodate the institution's collection of African and
African-American art and add further visual interest to the façade. (SASAKI)
Lorain County Community College/Elyria Public Library, Elyria, OH – USA 2008
Size 89,000 square feet, Cost 29,000,000, Statuscompleted July 2008, LEED® NC 2.2 Silver
Like many community colleges, Lorain County Community College has seen its mission grow in scope and complexity as it meets the
demands of an increasingly diverse student body. At the same time, a fiscally conservative environment has forced it to seek more
innovative and cost effective ways to meet these challenges. Through creative programming, planning and design, the new Learning
Technology Center and Campus Center at Lorain will support and enhance the educational mission of Lorain County Community
College. By taking advantage of the current pedagogical trend of blending social spaces and learning spaces, the Learning
Technology Center, in adjacency with the Campus Center, will offer students and faculty the ability to easily access hardbound and
electronic collections and work together in spaces that foster interdisciplinary, collaborative team-based projects. (Sasaki)
University of Balamand Library/Learning Center, El-Khoura, Tripoli – Lebanon 2012
Client: University of Sacred Heart, Fairfield, CT - USA
Awards:
ASLA 2007 Professional Awards (University of Balamand, Campus Master Plan
The University of Balamand was established after the Lebanese civil war by the Orthodox Church. It occupies a spectacular
site in North Lebanon on a steep hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The university is committed to developing a
secular education based on dialogue, transparency, and resistance to dogma and fundamentalism. Already the university
enrolls over 3,000 students in nine faculties. The campus master plan identifies a new Library Learning Center as part of the
first group of buildings intended to jumpstart a campus-wide transformation.
The building replaces an outdated library building located at a far end of the campus, thereby consolidating the various
schools' collections into a central location. The Library Learning Center is both an infill and addition to an existing
academic building complex. The design had to re-route a number of key utilities, close a vehicular street, convert it into a
major pedestrian promenade, resolve a full level change in topography, and connect to and provide egress for two wings of
the existing building that constituted dead end conditions.
The new Library Learning Center is a new hub of activity and a portal to the academic center of the campus, turning what
was the back of the existing complex into a front. The building introduces a new kind of learning environment on campus
that is open, visible, spatially fluent, and more accessible to its users—radically transforming the character of the existing
complex to which the building connects. The new programs located in the building complement those of the traditional
library and include a learning commons, experimental classrooms, a remedial and distance education center, a series of
group study and meeting spaces, and a café and lounge. Taking advantage of an underutilized courtyard space, the building
forms an atrium around existing and new building wings, creating a heart to the complex and a major destination for
student life for the campus. The project also pioneered the use of wireless technology and internet access to the library
material and resources for the campus.
The building features many sustainable design attributes. Optimized building orientation and profile maximize daylighting
and minimize negative sun exposure. Operable windows enable natural ventilation and the atrium clerestory functions as an
air-flushing device. Fixed solar screens on all façades create passive shading. The campus is connected to the public transit
system and parking is eliminated from the building's main public space, encouraging pedestrianization. A green roof on the
building's terrace helps reduce storm water runoff and minimize heat island effect, and also provides greater thermal
insulation values to the roof. Pervious paving used throughout the new outdoor promenade with wind breaking planting
barriers helps mitigate the effect of the powerful southwestern winds. The project reuses existing limestone bedrock in all
garden and retaining wall applications and uses of two types of locally quarried stone as part of the building's facade veneer.
Similar to other buildings on campus, the building incorporates photovoltaic panels for hot water and site lighting provision.
(Sasaki)
University of New Brunswick, Hans W. Klohn Commons, Saint John, New Brunswick – Canada
2011
Size38,750 SF, Cost$20 million, Status completed September 2011, Team B+H Architects
LEED® Silver Certified by the Canadian Green Building Council
Dramatically sited at the entrance to campus, the Hans W. Klohn Commons physically and strategically transforms the
University of New Brunswick, Saint John (UNBSJ). The highly flexible information commons seamlessly integrates library
staff spaces, allowing for a reinvention of the way library services are provided on campus and providing copious spaces for
study and collaboration. Situated on a former parking lot, the commons is a beacon that sits within a restored landscape of
trees and plants native to the Atlantic Maritime Ecozone.
UNBSJ first asked Sasaki to assess instructional spaces to determine space needs and how they related to the anticipated
renovation of the existing Ward Chipman Library. After a series of workshops and visioning sessions, it became clear that
the reinvention of library services would be compromised if built within Ward Chipman due to its structural limitations.
The preferred solution located a new library at the opposite end of the campus from Ward Chipman, converting the former
library into classrooms, labs, and faculty offices.
Working with the university and library staff, Sasaki took advantage of the opportunity to design a building that enhanced
an improved model for library services instead of limiting it. The second floor of the Hans W. Klohn Commons is suspended
from the roof, allowing for a column-free ground floor. This, coupled with a raised floor infrastructure, grants maximum
flexibility to move, add, or recombine the furniture and study spaces throughout the commons. A browsing collection is
located on the second floor, but the majority of the university's collection is housed in compact shelving on the lower level,
providing maximum space for study and collaboration. The highly flexible space allows for the library staff to test various
service models and tailor the space to meet the needs of students and faculty.
A restorative approach to the landscape knits the original topography of the east end of the campus back into the site. The
design reintroduces native species of plants and trees and redefines sightlines to frame views to the distant hills. Studying
and collaborating in the commons takes on the experience of sitting in a pavilion surrounded by the rich Canadian
landscape. (Sasaki)
sbc see Solomon Cordwell Buenz
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