Libraries remain one of the typologies that colleges and universities continue to invest in avidly. And most new construction and renovation seems to focus on creating spaces where students and even faculty can collaborate.
A recent example is the $15 million, 21,000-sf expansion of LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, N.Y., which debuted May 12. This library, with more than 650,000 visitors annually, is one of the campus’s most heavily used spaces, and its expansion “is long overdue,” says the college’s president Gail O. Mellow.
The expansion converted a section of the second floor at the college’s E-building, which had been used for offices and classrooms, into more library space above the library’s existing mezzanine. It made the existing, previously single-floor, library 60% larger, and increased its seating capacity 74% to 732 by adding 312 workstations powered by Internet connections in each.
The new floor includes a 5,750-sf courtyard reading room, the 2,790-sf Thomson Reading Room, a 1,570-sf media lab, 1,360-sf archive room, a video editing room, a recording room, a language lab, offices, 11 group study rooms, restrooms, storage spaces, and mechanical and data rooms. There are also 50 new offices.
To achieve this expansion, the construction team—which included IBI Group Gruzen Samton (architect), Stalco Construction (GC), and AECOM (CM)—removed the original stairs from the main floor to the mezzanine, and cut a 50x60-ft opening into the concrete slab of the second-floor library space for a new structural steel staircase with wooden treads and handrails.
The construction team cut a 50x60-ft opening in the concrete slab of the new second-floor library space to accommodate a new staircase. Image: Ola Photography
The opening of the second floor is an architectural feature with glass sides that allow patrons to see into the library.
The challenges of this project included working while the existing library was in operation. Construction crews accessed the site through the exterior wall opening, and materials deliveries came through a ramp or a hoist through the second-floor opening. (The new stair was carried in sections through the exterior all and assembled onsite.) The crews never had access to the building’s elevator.
A temporary wall mitigated noise and dust. And when possible, the crews worked while students were away, on weekends and during spring break.
Other stakeholders on this project included the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. LaGuardia Community College is part of the City University of New York system, and educates 50,000 New Yorkers annually. Its student population is largely lower-income, new-immigrant, or otherwise disadvantaged.
The Building Team included Joseph R. Loring & Associates (MEP), Ysrael A. Seinuk, P.C. (SE), and Whitehouse Lighting Design (lighting). The library’s atrium space above the stair features three oversized round light fixtures, which can be lowered automatically for maintenance.
Phase 2 of this project will focus on the first floor, and renovations will be based in part on input from students, faculty, and staff, according to the college
Related Stories
Libraries | Nov 22, 2021
Atlanta’s Central Library completes its $50 million renovation
Cooper Carry in association with Vines Architecture designed the project.
Giants 400 | Nov 19, 2021
2021 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector
Gensler, AECOM, Buro Happold, and Arup top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
Libraries | Sep 22, 2021
Three libraries in California were built in less than two years under a P3 contract
A nonprofit with tax advantages funded the project.
Giants 400 | Aug 30, 2021
2021 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
The 2021 Giants 400 Report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Libraries | Aug 26, 2021
Fort Worth’s first public library for children opens
KAI designed the project.
Resiliency | Aug 19, 2021
White paper outlines cost-effective flood protection approaches for building owners
A new white paper from Walter P Moore offers an in-depth review of the flood protection process and proven approaches.
Libraries | Aug 17, 2021
ABA creates space for the Philip Roth Personal Library at the Newark Public Library
ABA partnered with Shawmut Design & Construction on the project.
Libraries | Aug 10, 2021
Lakeside Branch Library breaks ground
HED and PCL Construction are designing and building the project.
Libraries | Jul 9, 2021
Smith College’s newly renovated Neilson Library honors its past as it moves into the future
Adding more space for the library's Special Collections was a design imperative.
Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021
Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]
New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.