For Immediate Release: May 13, 2008
Site and Sensibility: The Community Library Re-defined
Minneapolis, MN - The new Maplewood branch library in Minnesota is the jewel in the crown of the Ramsey County Library System. Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers/Minneapolis, the 31,000-square foot library is sensitively nestled into a suburban site of mature trees, adjacent parkland and new sculpture garden. HGA's use of inviting colors, simple yet stunning design, and innovative materials has resulted in the creation of a community destination.
"On Sundays there's not an open computer or chair throughout the library," says Jane Dedering, HGA's senior interior designer for the project. "Within the Ramsey County Library System, everybody wants another Maplewood because of the library's welcoming design, how well it fits into its natural setting and how comfortable it is. The Maplewood Library has also become the living room for the community because of its easy access to reading materials, fireplace and artwork, comfy chairs, and views to the trees and wetlands outside."
Located in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb of Maplewood, the Ramsey County Library received a 2007 AIA Minnesota Honor Award for design excellence. The project was also completed through an innovative, design-build collaboration between HGA and McGough Cos., Minneapolis, which allowed the project to be completed with a public process on a fast-track schedule within budget.
Several sustainable-design initiatives were also integrated into the project. As many mature trees as possible were saved during construction, and 20 red maples and a variety of native shrubs and grasses were planted in front of the library to help replace the lost trees and shade the facility from direct sun. Other programs ranged from high-efficiency lighting and mechanicals to the use of materials with recycled content and the re-use of shelving from the former library. The library also ushers 21st-century technology into the Ramsey County system with customer-directed service delivery, automated material handling and built-in flexibility for the future.
Exteriors: Integrated with the Site. Ramsey County selected a unique, linear site in a suburban location for its new full-service library. While fast-food restaurants and a large indoor shopping mall are located across the street, the site itself sits next to a commercial strip mall and a park with wetlands, woods of mature trees and a new sculpture garden. Recognizing and revering the site's natural assets, the HGA design team immediately decided to save as many trees as possible in order to ensure library patrons' enjoyment of the parkland for years to come.
To integrate the building within its wooded site and keep its size and massing within the scale of the natural setting, HGA generated two, horizontal rectangles as the front and rear forms of the building. The team took inspiration for the exterior from the color and patterning from the woodland's under-story as well as from the visual rhythm of books lined up on a shelf.
For example, the front of the library is clad in inexpensive punched-aluminum panels (under-laid with a waterproof membrane), which were detailed to resemble the spines of books. The library's panel colors range from deep red to bronze to black, and produce a moray-like effect created through an innovative anodizing process. The result is a "subtle yet colorful, animated exterior that helps to nestle the building into its site," says E. Tim Carl, AIA, the project's design architect.
The first rectangle houses the east-facing front entrance and lobby, which is the building's busy community hub with self-check ins and returns, and automated material sorting. A cantilevered metal canopy welcomes patrons to the building, under which the front entrance's glass doors provide dramatic views through the building to the park and sculpture garden. A large clerestory window, framed with zinc shingles, slopes up from the library's roof.
At the lobby's north are the Cravings coffee shop, a meeting room, and a reading lounge with a fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows that open up to a porch, patio and the park. To the south, the circulation and reference desks are located along a main circulation spine, allowing staff to benefit from clear sight lines. Offices and workrooms are spacious and flexible to encourage an efficient flow of materials.
The second rectangle houses the library collections in open, flexible spaces easily reconfigured to meet the changing needs of library access and storage. While the first rectangle's roof is flat to correspond with the flat-roofed commercial buildings nearby, the second bar dips and curves in a butterfly form to hug the park. Inside, the building's exposed ceiling structure is hung with slender strips of a light-colored, recycled-wood-composite material that mediates acoustics and softens the industrial aesthetic. Along this back section of the library, where the bars curve along the wetland and the Maplewood Sculpture Garden, the exteriors are clad in a system of overlapping zinc shingles in a grey-green color that will weather over time.
The design team carefully located windows to frame specific views of the trees, wetland and sculpture park. "As they move about the library, patrons continually connect with and rediscover the park and wetland through the multiple views-provided by openings from floor-to-ceiling window walls to narrow slices of glass-that we oriented to allow for constant visual access to the park," explains Carl.
Interiors: A Natural Sense of Place. From the start, HGA's graphics and sustainability designers were also an integral part of the design team to ensure the Maplewood Library's interior graphics, materials and colors conveyed a unique sense of place reflective of the community in which the library's located.
To correspond with the natural setting, the design team selected a palette of natural muted colors. Reddish tones and stained-wood panels, for example, carry the building's exterior colors inside and help define the primary circulation paths.
In addition, the city's signature maple-leaf design, as well as the maple seedpod, were abstracted and incorporated through the library as easy-to-follow graphics that also convey Maplewood's singular sense of identity. In the children's area, the designers translated the maple leaf into alphabet letters tumble down one wall. "The alphabet identifies that space as one that's oriented toward children, but the graphics are done is such a sophisticated way the space doesn't only appeal to a certain age group," Dedering says.
In the reading lounge, Minneapolis artist Sandy Spieler was commissioned to create artwork for the library. Starting with the adage that "a book is a garden in your hand," she developed an art installation that features giant fabricated maple seeds embedded with letters and lit from within. Elsewhere in the library, the Ask a Librarian signs feature a graphic of layered maple leaves.
"Throughout the interior," Dedering adds, "we maintained a delicate balance within a sophisticated, consistent graphics program that adds identity and interest without being too literal."
While signage throughout the library conveys a sense of place through the maple-leaf graphic by uniquely defining specific areas, HGA also designed signage to be intuitive and user-friendly-a customer-driven wayfinding innovation new to libraries, Dedering says. Instead of signage that reads Circulation and Reference, for instance, "we intentionally changed the words to read Ask a Librarian," Dedering explains. In addition, colorful flags hung near bookshelves indicate topic areas like Travel.
In keeping with their sustainability goal, the design team carefully and deliberately selected sustainable finish materials and furnishings. Durable but low-VOC paints and glues were used on surfaces. Linoleum in natural colors and nature-inspired patterns was selected for its durability, resilience, clean-ability and natural-materials composition. The wood and mineral-board acoustical ceiling tiles, as well as the carpets, contain substantial amounts of post-consumer recycled material and are 100 percent recyclable. Existing shelving and workstations from the old library were refurbished and reused in the new library.
A combination of natural light, and high-efficiency supplemental direct and indirect lighting, was designed to meet the needs of staff and visitors in each area of the library. As a result, lighting energy use is approximately 40 percent more efficient than the State Energy Code requires. Outside the library, rainwater run-off was directed to on-site gardens for filtration, and natural plantings that require minimal watering were combined with irrigated turf.
New Technologies. HGA's intentional integration of the natural setting with the library's exterior and interior and the detailed attention to a sense of place and identity resonate throughout the building. Concurrently,
HGA accomplished the entire design while working on a $6.8 million budget (originally intended for an expansion/ remodel on the library's former location) during a fast-track, design-build process.
By teaming with the project contractor McGough in the initial stages, the entire team could work hand-in-hand through schematic design, design development and construction, while always making sure the vision was buildable within the budget and 15-month schedule. The team kept the project costs to $150 per square foot, without sacrificing quality or design integrity.
"It was critical that no one area was 'stripped down,' that no huge sacrifices were made in any one area," Dedering says. "The design-build process allowed us to work within budget across all the areas of the building, and the over all experience is that of a high-quality building."
A large portion of the library's budget went to the installation of 21st-century library technologies including self-check in and -check out and automated material handling.
"We took a step back from the traditional service-desk model and created a larger area for open reserves, downsized the circulation desk, and added more self checks so patrons could begin getting accustomed to a more customer-driven service model," Dedering explains.
When patrons enter the new Ramsey County Library, one of the first services they see is the book return, with the circulation desk tucked around the corner "so you have a librarian's face and someone to greet you," Dedering says. An automated material-handling system, an increased number of computers and librarian services near computer and reference areas ensure that less staff have to do repetitive tasks and those same hours can be used in program development, helping people with searches and collection development.
A Member of the Community. Whether just entering the building, sitting inside the coffee shop, gathering with colleagues in a meeting room, reading to children near the fireplace, or enjoying a magazine on the outdoor deck, the result of HGA's sensitivity to the outdoor amenities is a library full of wonderful spots from which people can enjoy nature.
The library replaces a former structure completed in 1993 that, 10 years later, needed 60 percent more space to adequately house its collections and services. Today, by working closely with library staff and Ramsey County to expand space and services, install more customer-driven and automated systems, define interior functions and the library's singular identity, boost safety and security, and connect with a natural public amenity, the HGA design team produced a library that has become a landmark and cherished part of the community.
"The community wanted a library that, even though it's part of a county system, means something to the residents of Maplewood," Dedering concludes. "Their new library has a sense of place that's reflected in its sensitive siting and design, and it's an integral part of the community to which it belongs. Because it's so responsive to the community, it's become a source of community pride."
:: View Ramsey County Library-Maplewood
HGA Contact: Julie Luers (612) 758-4000 e-mail JLuers@hga.com
Media Contact: Susan Evans, Evans Larson (612) 338-6999 e-mail susan@evanslarson.com