Shepley Bulfinch has won the “Single Space” category in the 2012 Library Interior Design Competition for the Learning Commons for Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library. The biennial design award is jointly sponsored by the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the American Library Association (ALA).
The 2010 interior renovation transformed an existing 1980s library into a dynamic gathering place and center of teaching, learning, and scholarship for the communities of the Atlanta University Center’s four constituent Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Central to Shepley Bulfinch’s design response was the creation of a learning commons to span from the main entrance to the central stair. This now serves as the library’s welcoming ‘front door’ and provides primary services and a variety of settings for learning, working, and collaborating.
The design challenges included creating an entry sequence to orient patrons and highlight services; establishing a sense of identity visible from the exterior; and providing a flexible extended-hours access for part of the learning commons. The original marble entry stairs, which were meant to convey a sense of grandeur to visitors, were re-envisioned as a seating area for poetry readings and other small events. They also became a natural demarcation for a portion of the learning commons that could be secured from the rest of the library as an extended-hours space. A glass folding door rises vertically during normal operating hours to act as a canopy. +
Related Stories
| Aug 14, 2014
How workplace design can empower employees, businesses
Focusing on recent work at Follett and Zurich, CannonDesign’ Meg Osman reveals the power of research, strategy, change management, and measurement to transform businesses for the better.
| Aug 13, 2014
UIA commits to phasing out CO2 emissions in built environment
The International Union of Architects, representing approximately 2.3 million architects worldwide, has unanimously adopted the 2050 Imperative committing to environmental and social sustainability.
| Aug 13, 2014
ADD Inc. to merge with Stantec
The deal, which helps Stantec strengthen its capabilities in the buildings business on the East Coast, is expected to close in September.
| Aug 13, 2014
Campus UX: Why universities should be creating 'branded environments' on campus
When most colleges and universities consider their brands, they rarely venture beyond the design and implementation of a logo, writes Gensler Design Director Brian Brindisi.
| Aug 12, 2014
Vietnam's 'dragonfly in the sky' will be covered in trees, vegetation
Designed by Vietnamese design firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects, the building will be made up of stacked concrete blocks placed slightly askew to create a soft, organic form that the architects say is reminiscent of a dragonfly in the sky.
| Aug 12, 2014
First look: Calatrava's futuristic Main Building opens at Florida Polytechnic University
The $60 million structure is wrapped in a bright-white, aluminum pergola for dramatic effect and solar shading.
| Aug 12, 2014
Shading prototype could allow new levels of environmental control for skyscraper occupants
Developed by architects at NBBJ, Sunbreak uses a unique three-hinged shade that morphs from an opaque shutter to an abstract set of vertical blinds to an awning, depending on what is needed.
| Aug 12, 2014
Design firms invited to submit qualifications for St. Petersburg, Fla., waterfront project
The city of St. Petersburg, Fla., invites firms to submit their ideas for a new and improved pier for Florida's fifth largest city.
| Aug 11, 2014
Air Terminal Sector Giants: Morphing TSA procedures shape terminal design [2014 Giants 300 Report]
The recent evolution of airport terminals has been prompted largely by different patterns of passenger behavior in a post-9/11 world, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 11, 2014
The Endless City: Skyscraper concept connects all floors with dual ramps
Rather than superimposing one floor on top of another, London-based SURE Architecture proposes two endless ramps, rising gradually with a low gradient from the ground floor to the sky.
