Forty years after its original opening in 1980, Atlanta’s Central Library has reopened following a $50 million renovation project designed by Cooper Carry in association with Vines Architecture. The build team devised a plan to rehabilitate the eight-story building into a place that balances the original brutalist design with modernizing the space to better appeal to Atlanta’s next generation of library goers.
The team envisioned a design strategy to utilize technology; introduce additional windows; reallocate space; improve way finding; replace mechanical systems for greater comfort, efficiency, and sustainability; and activate the exterior plaza to create a more transparent, safe, accessible, and functional building from the outside in.
Other key considerations included creating more natural light, flexibility to support changing programs, and improved street-level engagement. The introduction of windows to existing recessed planes significantly improved daylight access, helping to create a brighter interior and a more welcoming presence.
A challenge of the library’s interior was that it was underutilized and difficult to navigate, leaving many of the original design signatures hiding in plain sight. The design team unearthed and put these elements on display, including a distinct sculptural staircase and waffle slab ceiling and skylights that occupy the center of the building by relocating the original central service elevator that was in the way. Opening up the core of the building had the effect of bringing in natural light to the atrium while serving as a smoke exhaust pathway, which was a necessary mechanical change to the building's life safety systems.
Visitors will discover the addition of comfortable gathering hubs that encourage library guests to move outside the confines of the traditional library on the previously underutilized fifth floor outdoor terrace. In the future, flex spaces like the terrace and the adjacent auditorium with telescoping seating and a large glass operable door could be used as an income-generating venue for events.
The library’s revamped exterior plaza will be activated with more lighting, video information displays, and spaces to meet and gather. The goal is to extend the library’s footprint into the urban fabric and draw outsiders in.
The design team worked with Fulton County Library System, in addition to design build contractors Winter-Johnson with Moody Nolan.
Related Stories
| Apr 16, 2014
Upgrading windows: repair, refurbish, or retrofit [AIA course]
Building Teams must focus on a number of key decisions in order to arrive at the optimal solution: repair the windows in place, remove and refurbish them, or opt for full replacement.
| Apr 9, 2014
Steel decks: 11 tips for their proper use | BD+C
Building Teams have been using steel decks with proven success for 75 years. Building Design+Construction consulted with technical experts from the Steel Deck Institute and the deck manufacturing industry for their advice on how best to use steel decking.
| Apr 2, 2014
8 tips for avoiding thermal bridges in window applications
Aligning thermal breaks and applying air barriers are among the top design and installation tricks recommended by building enclosure experts.
| Mar 31, 2014
Extreme conversion: Soaring Canadian church transformed into contemporary library
Even before the St. Denys-du-Plateau Church was converted into a library, it was an unusual building, with a towering nave designed to mimic a huge tent inflated by the wind.
| Mar 26, 2014
Callison launches sustainable design tool with 84 proven strategies
Hybrid ventilation, nighttime cooling, and fuel cell technology are among the dozens of sustainable design techniques profiled by Callison on its new website, Matrix.Callison.com.
| Mar 20, 2014
Common EIFS failures, and how to prevent them
Poor workmanship, impact damage, building movement, and incompatible or unsound substrate are among the major culprits of EIFS problems.
| Mar 13, 2014
Do you really 'always turn right'?
The first visitor center we designed was the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center for the Everglades National Park in 1993. I remember it well for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the ongoing dialogue we had with our retail consultant. He insisted that the gift shop be located on the right as one exited the visitor center because people “always turn right.”
| Mar 12, 2014
14 new ideas for doors and door hardware
From a high-tech classroom lockdown system to an impact-resistant wide-stile door line, BD+C editors present a collection of door and door hardware innovations.
| Feb 14, 2014
Crowdsourced Placemaking: How people will help shape architecture
The rise of mobile devices and social media, coupled with the use of advanced survey tools and interactive mapping apps, has created a powerful conduit through which Building Teams can capture real-time data on the public. For the first time, the masses can have a real say in how the built environment around them is formed—that is, if Building Teams are willing to listen.
| Jan 28, 2014
16 awe-inspiring interior designs from around the world [slideshow]
The International Interior Design Association released the winners of its 4th Annual Global Excellence Awards. Here's a recap of the winning projects.
