Our current library does not provide space to accommodate the needs of the students, staff, and community at Mira Loma High School. There is a lack of resources students and staff need to make full use of the library. Acoustically, it is too noisy for students to study or prepare for class; furthermore, there is not adequate ventilation around the limited computers we have, making the computer room stuffy and musty. With this project we intend to ratify many of these issues and design an overall more inviting library.
Team.Lux.Sit's work for the Collect Information step:
The first major problem of our school library is that it is simply too small. Its overall dimensions are 63' by 47', producing an overall square area of 2961' squared.This size library is only adequate for those schools which student bodies are of 800 or less. Our school body consists of over 1600 individuals. The facility is used as a storage warehouse for textbooks, thus leaving less space for more important student functions. Other functions the library undertakes is studying, researching, checking out books, and teacher-parent meetings. We interviewed our librarian and asked for her input on a new library. She would like an addition to allow more space for books and computers.
Team.Lux.Sit's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:
This is a sketch of the bottom floor.
This is a sketch of the top floor. Since this was made, we have improved our design to make the setting more comfortable.
From the start, we knew we wanted to expand the library verticaly. Furthermore, we sought after to give the library a more open and "inviting" feel. We also felt the need to include a larger media and a resource center. Another feature we strived to include was a more comfortable lounge area with a cafe/gallery on the second story. Through our observations we noticed that much of the library was underutilized. The seating was bulky and inefficent; The bookcases, not logical or easy to navigate.
Team.Lux.Sit's work for the Develop Solutions step:
This is a view overlooking the top of our school.
The outside will be made of windows. Inside the staircase will be an elevator for handicap access.
This is a view of our library check out as well as a view from the outside of the new research center.
These are our representation of new and interesting bookshelves.
This is our new and improved media center.
This is the bottom floor of our library used mainly for book storage and quiet studying.
This is the upper story of our library. The function of this space is to be a relaxing environment with a cafe.
This is a more polished version of our design and we are looking forward to any suggestions you may have. We were wondering if anyone had any solutions on how to create an elevator on sketch-up to put inside the staircase.
Comments
You have my attention. Is the footprint larger than what exists now or are you only gooing up a floor. Access From 2nd floor a wing. Are slides 8,9,10 showing concepts you'd like to incorporate?
I think prindle18 means "going" up a floor. "Gooing" up a floor with a "footprint" is kinda strange.
Prindle18, yes we are planning on adding a second floor. Currently, we have not incorporated an entrance from the second floor of A wing to the second floor of the library; however, that would be an excellent addition to the sketch. Slides 8, 9, and 10 are what inspired us to create this design. Thank you for the feedback.
Hi team.lux.sit. You've done a lot of interesting work here! You you seem to fully understand the important issues that need fixing within the existing library.
Your photos are pretty effective at illustrating some of the library's problems. I think it would be helpful to sketch the existing space in plan so you can analyze existing circulation patterns and to get a feel for where all the major elements are. This would effectively help support your rationale for how you are changing the space. It looks like you have some plan information, based on your nice sketchup model.
Also, it would be interesting to see a storage capacity comparison between the existing shelves and your intriguing new circular shelves.
Keep up the good work! I'll make some more comments soon.
Make sure you add a feedback section so you can dialog and respond to any/all feedback you get. You will be responsible for this during your final presentation Oct. 4 & 5.
Thank you Jon Howard for your input. Analyzing the existing circulation patterns would definitely be beneficial so we can eliminate these problems in our final design. We look forward to any other comments you may have.
Keep working the process...you about to move your project to an entirely new level. Keep raising the bar!
Thank you. We will continue to improve our design by adding functional art as well as color and other details.
We like the idea that a cafe is added so that students can go straight to the library without having to get lunch first. The transparent windows are a great idea so that students can view the scenery outside and appeal more to Mira Loma students. Having an elevator inside the staircase is very creative and can save up a huge amount of space. The upstairs idea with having a place to relax definitely is something students need. Keep up the good work Team.Lux.Sit!
Thank you ThemOnes for your feedback! We really appreciate the time you put into looking at our project.
It was a very smart move to interview the librarian! Obviously, this is essential in determining a client's needs when working on a real-world project, so I'm glad you incorporated this into your classroom exercise.
Adding a second floor is a great way to create more floor area to the existing building. And your idea of planting a tree inside, letting it grow across multiple floors is a great outside-of-the-box solution to livening up the space, so to speak. Have you thought about what species would work best in this application? You'd probably want a tree that produces the least amount of fallen particulate (leaves, twigs, etc.) so it's easier to maintain and so the library doesn't get too dirty.
It would be great to see a floor plan that is drawn to scale so I can get a better sense of how the spaces are planned. This can be as simple as providing a top-down view taken from Sketchup with the section tool cutting across. Wider angle three-dimensional perspectives would also be helpful. In Sketchup, the "camera" menu contains the "field of view" tool. The greater the field of view, the more you'll see. Play around with it and see what kind of views you can achieve. I believe the default setting is 35. The setting I usually use when creating indoor views is around 60 to 75, depending on what I'm attempting to show.
Also, think some more about what kind of materials you can use on the interior of the library. From the images of the existing building, it looks like brick is used a lot as an interior wall material, and you've incorporated this into your new design. However, you have an opportunity to use other materials in this project, if you so choose. Drywall is an obvious choice due to it's flexibility and it's ability to be nailed into. You might also consider using wood panels, aluminum, fabric, or even stone to make the spaces more visually diverse. When choosing wall materials, it would be a good idea to think about their acoustic properties as well.
I love the addition of all the glass in your project! Students would love to sit in your spaces because they'd be filled with daylight. Have you thought about the sun patterns in your area? Providing certain shading elements, such as louvers or movable shades, can help prevent too much heat gain within your library. Have a look here for some good strategies: http://tah2.org/think/site/climate
Keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see more!
The feedback of louvers and movable shades is excellent and also makes me wonder what sort of light/shadows could be make using various mobiles or hanging sculptures, stained glass window desigs or window shapes. We are fortunate in California to have nice weather 80% of the time. Use that to your advantage with the aesthetics as well.
Keep up the good work.