2013 national competition project | Library Redesign #181
|The goal of this project is to create a People-Centric library with equal opportunity for independent study and community wholeness.
berdingc's work for the Collect Information step:
Summary
To collect information, I first sent out a school-wide survey to see what the students want most out of the library and what they like about it already.
This picture of the library (taken by the door of the room at the front) shows how small it is for...
This is a picture (taken from Google Maps) of Saint Ursula Academy. As you can see, Saint Ursula is...
This is a list of the pros and cons of the existing library. Making this list as a summary of the...
In this floor plan of the library, the red areas are the ones that are the most crowded and...
This image is of the second-story hall that the library is located in. On the left is the library...
The photo above is one that is particularly inspiring to me. The community feel of the circular...
berdingc's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:
Summary
To brainstorm ideas, I began simply by thinking of alternative spaces around the school that would be able to host a new library or possibly an outdoor extension of one.
Above is a picture (taken from Google Maps) of the neighborhood surrounding Saint Ursula Academy....
This image is a site analysis diagram that I made of the Saint Ursula Academy campus. It shows the...
After coming to the conclusion that there needs to be a bigger and more modern space for the...
The above photograph is of the roof of the Keller Center (student life building), where the library...
Above is a picture of the Keller Center where the new library will be housed in the basement. After...
berdingc's work for the Develop Solutions step:
Summary
To develop solutions, I looked critically at my proposed floor plan to see how the elements of a modern library fit in.
The sketch above is of my general floor plan for the library. I would like to incorporate a café...
The picture above shows my floor plan with furniture for the new library. The main goal of this...
This is the beginning of my room on Google Sketchup. As you can see, the focus is immediately on...
A major part of the plan of the new library is to make it eco-friendly. For example, placing solar...
This is the middle stage in creating the 3D representation of the library on Google Sketchup. I...
This is the very beginning stage of the cafe area that I created for the library. In my opinion, a...
berdingc's work for the Final Design step:
Summary
For my final design, all of my ideas and information from previous steps came together to create a new modern-day library space.
This is a picture of the main room on the right side of the library (made with Google Sketchup)....
This is the finished layout for the library. I left many of the rooms the same as in the previous...
The above image made with Google Sketchup is my final version of the cafe area in the library. The...
Comments
This is truly a people-centric approach to the problem! Your all-school survey was a great way to find out what the users want and what they find problematic with the currently library. I appreciate that you summarized the data in an accessible form (rather than "dumping" the raw data). Then you used this data to analyze the current library and determine a list of goals for the new space. Your school is particularly challenging because of the space constraints but your solution is quite elegant.
I especially like how your process discovered that there is a lack of space for backpacks in the library. While this might easily be overlooked, it makes a huge impact on the day-to-day success of a library space.
My only suggestion refers to your overview and final design narrative. These are fairly short - in these spaces, you should summarize what you've done by repeating the information listed elsewhere in a condensed form. I hope you decide to become an architect because you've got a great approach. (Architectural jury member)