Library Buildings around the World

support “branches” that reference the Tree of Knowledge and surrounding evergreen trees. The stature and overall volume of the
library´s location conveys its importance as a center for learning, socialization and community. (Steinberg)
Davis Senior High School Library and Classroom Building, Davis, CA -USA 1998
(33.000 sqf.), Library: 15.000 sqf.
Awards:
1999 Honor Award, AIA Santa Clara Chapter
Steinberg Architects provided the design for the new state-of –the Art
Robert A.M. Stern Architects LLP, New York, NY – USA
http://www.ramsa.com
Libraries:
George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX – USA 2013
The George W. Bush Presidential Center carries forward the tradition of Southern Methodist University's Georgian-style campus,
with simple wall planes faced with Texas limestone and red brick relieved by rhythmically disposed divided-light windows. The
building presents three distinct facades. On the north, the public entrance to the museum and Presidential archives stands at the
head of a colonnaded court. To the west, the entrance to the George W. Bush Institute is through a portico that concludes the
important Binkley Avenue axis of the campus. To the south, the Institute faces university recreational fields, with the Dallas skyline
visible in the distance beyond. On the east side service areas help buffer the Center from the noise of an adjoining freeway. A large
lantern atop Freedom Hall, the museum's central atrium, identifies the Center from the campus and from the city. (Stern)
North Instructional Building and Library, Bronx Community College, City University of New
York, Bronx, NY – USA 2012
Bronx Community College is blessed with an 1892 master plan by Stanford White for what was originally New York University's
University Heights campus atop a bluff above the Harlem River in the Bronx. The ambitious plan included the grand domed Gould
Memorial Library (1900) and the arcing open colonnade of the Hall of Fame (1912) at the head of a quadrangle framed by more
restrained classroom buildings, many of which remained unrealized. Marcel Breuer created a second master plan for the campus in
1956 and completed a number of buildings on the campus in the 1960s. In 2006 we completed a new space plan for the campus,
proposing a combination of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and new construction.
The first building within the 2006 master plan, our 98,600-square-foot North Hall and Library, provides state-of-the-art classrooms
and a new double-height library in a three-story structure that completes the north side of the College's main quadrangle. The south
facade facing the quad is an elegant foil both to the exuberance of Gould Memorial Library and to the severity of Breuer's Meister
Hall across the lawn. A recessed porch marks the entry while allowing the rhythm of pilasters to continue uninterrupted across the
facade. A wing conceived as an annex responds to the lower scale of Havemeyer Hall across the quadrangle. Buff Roman brick and
light gray cast-stone trim carries forward the palette of White's buildings. A granite rubble base at the lower level of the north
facade expresses the change in grade as the site falls away toward the river.
On the ground floor, classrooms are organized along an east-west corridor that extends the axis of the Hall of Fame. A monumental
stair climbs to the library above and captures spectacular views to Upper Manhattan across the river. The library features a double
row of barrel vaults supported by slender columns inspired by Henri Labrouste's St. Genevieve Library in Paris. Faculty offices and
a special law collection library are accommodated in the upper levels of the annex.
North Hall and Library will be a sustainable building: the project is on track for LEED Silver certification.
RAMSA Partner Graham S. Wyatt served as Project Partner. RAMSA Partner Augusta Barone served as Project Partner. RAMSA
Partner Alexander Lamis served as Project Partner. (Stern)
Calabasas Civic Center, Calabasas, CA – USA 2008
The Calabasas Civic Center gives the City of Calabasas its first opportunity to express in architectural terms the civic ideals of
community and environmental stewardship. Calabasas, located in the northwest corner of Los Angeles County, was incorporated in
1992, and city offices and the library have been located in rented space for the past decade. The new Civic Center is situated on a
gently sloping site, near arid hills that are a gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains. The arcaded library and city hall are
contemporary interpretations of the Mediterranean style architecture prevalent in Southern California, and are sited informally to
create a variety of outdoor spaces, including a grove of olive trees, a civic plaza, and an amphitheater, that together will form the
public heart of Calabasas. The City Hall contains a two-story Council Chamber, seating 125, which is the focal point for city
activities. It combines traditional wood paneling, beams, and decorative lighting with up-to-date audiovisual and communications
systems. The City Hall also includes a public counter for day-to-day interaction with local government, as well as offices for elected
officials, the city manager, department heads, and workplaces for city staff, all infused with natural light and a close connection to
the outdoors. The Library has a tall central hall, with clerestory windows illuminating the center of the large one-story space.
Together with traditional library functions, the library contains an acoustically refined 200-seat multipurpose meeting room, which
will serve as a venue for spoken word as well as small-scale musical events. Underground parking will accommodate 230 cars.
The City of Calabasas is committed in the city charter to a high level of stewardship of its attractive natural environment, and the
Civic Center is designed to achieve Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Environmentally sound design
strategies include the use of local and recycled materials, drought-tolerant landscaping, natural daylighting, and low energy lighting
and environmental control systems. (Stern)
Lakewood Public Library, Lakewood, OH – USA 2008
The renovation of the 53,000-square-foot Lakewood Public Library (Edward L. Tilton, 1916) and a 40,000-square-foot addition
created a well-organized state-of-the-art library that is a great public place, with rooms both grand and intimate, a destination that
attracts Lakewood's vibrant community in all its diversity to return again and again for education and inspiration. Our design
continues Lakewood's rich tradition of civic buildings in the Classical architectural language. The addition is located to the east of
the existing building; a monumental entry porch provides a civic scale that the current library lacks and enlivens Detroit Avenue.
From the entry porch, and also from the second entrance from the parking lot, patrons move to a two-story skylit lobby at the
building's center. This central lobby serves as an orientation point and opens to the circulation desk, the popular materials room,
and the children's department, which offers storytime, computer, and homework rooms along with a double-height arts and crafts
room. At the end of a main hall are elevators and a grand stair with another skylight to bring natural light down to the main level.
Upstairs are reading rooms, the general collection stacks and the technology center, along with a large audiovisual department to
accommodate the library's fast-growing collection of videos, CDs, and DVDs. The paneled Grand Reading Room, located just above
the main entrance, is elegantly scaled – 50 feet long by 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high – and furnished with wood tables and carrels.
Alcoves north and south offer lounge chairs for casual reading. Hidden skylights will filter natural light throughout the room. An
intimate Quiet Reading Room is located to the south, away from the bustle of Detroit Avenue. The original building's mechanical
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