Lawrence Public Library - Gould Evans - ArchDaily

30/01/2017
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Lawrence Public Library / Gould Evans

09:00 - 5 April, 2016
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Architects
Gould Evans
Location
707 Vermont St, Lawrence, KS 66044, United States
Interior Design
Gould Evans
Project Year
2014
Photographs
Tim Griith, Mike Sinclair
More Specs
The expansion of a 1970s Brutalist-style library in downtown Lawrence, Kansas has transformed it
architecturally, reinventing it as a 21st century civic place. The existing library, designed by Lawrence
architecture firm Robertson, Peters Ericson, Williams P.A. and constructed in 1972, was uninviting due
to poor thermal performance, diicult wayfinding and a lack of daylighting and openness. Library
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attendance was down, particularly with younger generations. Through extensive community dialogue,
the citizens of Lawrence voiced their thoughts and established key design considerations for the
project, including an enhanced childrens area, greater access to technology and an emphasis on
environmental sustainability. The citizens recognized the significance of the librarys location in the
community and the opportunity it provided to establish a new place within the downtown area.
Gould Evans responded with a design that addresses the changing role of the library: from book
repository to multimedia community hub.
The design for the addition is based on a simple expansion diagram. A continuous reading room wraps
the existing library on all sides, transforming it into a forward-looking, community-centered place. Each
new elevation opens up to a dierent public constituency: neighborhoods to the west, the post oice
to the north, downtown to the east and a new plaza to the south. The new terra cotta faade is solid in
areas where book collections need to be protected, employing long, narrow horizontal apertures to
bring daylight into reading areas. Each corner is designed with floor-to-ceiling curtain walls that reveal
glimpses of unique public amenities, including childrens cubby areas, teen gaming zones, small
meeting spaces, and a coee bar in the main lobby.
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Three primary building materials were selected to work in concert with each other and convey the
concept of a continuous experience for patrons. A high performance terra cotta rain screen is the
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primary exterior material. This was selected as a gesture to the historic red brick of downtown
Lawrence while demonstrating a very modern application: its high-performance assembly helps
control thermal transfer from exterior to interior. Clear-coated tongue-and groove ash paneling
installed over the previous exterior walls of the original library form a continuous interior surface,
providing warmth in contrast to the original painted concrete walls. An abundant use of glass opens the
library up at each of its corners and via new skylights and clerestories, brings light into the core of the
original library.
To aid in the goal of achieving a warm, open, light-filled and welcoming place, a new atrium was cut out
of the center of the original library, connecting the basement level to all the way up to the new
clerestory windows at roof level. A glass sculpture created by a local artist fills the atrium with a wide
spectrum of color. In addition to stacks for books and periodicals, the addition and renovation provides
dedicated areas for dierent age groups and places emphasis on community gathering places over
silent spaces. New youth areas are organized around two main zones: a younger childrens zone and a
teen zone, each with appropriately scaled technologies. The younger childrens zone has independent
study areas, play areas and computer zones. The teen zone is similarly organized between print and
electronic media. The electronic media spaces are visible to the streetscape along a main pedestrian
artery, conveying the librarys identity as a 21st century facility.
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Meeting and maker spaces are distributed throughout the library, adjacent to and in support of the
other library spaces. One key space that has become particularly popular is the Sound + Vision Room:
a
community access recording studio complete with a drum set and instruments. Lawrence has an active
music culture and the Sound + Vision Room is used by local musicians to make recordings, such as
demo tapes. Within a few months of the librarys reopening, user visits increased 55% over the previous
year, with youth program attendance up 160%.
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A new plaza park adjacent to the library entry was part of the project. This park accommodates both
library and community functions with an informal stepped amphitheater, an events plaza and support
for an ice-skating rink over the holiday season. In addition to the planned events, the park provides
informal space as an outdoor reading area and as a connector to the community swimming pool and
the larger downtown area.
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The sustainable design strategy for the addition focused on increasing energy eiciency via daylight
harvesting throughout the interior, improving thermal performance via the terra cotta rain screen
system, and strategic sun-shading to eliminate glare. While not tied directly to energy savings, the
existing building and mechanical systems were re-used rather than completely replaced which reduced
some of the embedded energy involved in building a new structure. The net result of these strategies
was the library was able to increase its size by 50% while actually reducing the buildings energy
consumption.
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The building is in the LEED certification process. The building has recently been recognized with a
Landmark Libraries Award by Library Journal, as well as the Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture
by the AIA Kansas.
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Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Tim Griith
Mike Sinclair
Mike Sinclair
Tim Griith
Mike Sinclair
Tim Griith
Mike Sinclair
Mike Sinclair
Plan
Section
Elevation
Elevation
Elevation
Elevation
Diagram
Diagram
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Plan
Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
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Cite: "Lawrence Public Library / Gould Evans" 05 Apr 2016. ArchDaily. Accessed 30 Jan 2017.
<http://www.archdaily.com/784930/lawrence-public-library-gould-evans/>
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