Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center

The role of the branch library today is more than a repository of information – and while access to information and media of all sorts is still a critical part of what the branch libraries do, they also provide many related social services.

The new Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center replaces an existing building with a 15,000sf community hub for environmental awareness, activism and education. The Greenpoint Library doubles the size of the previous building, providing significantly enlarged indoor and outdoor spaces to house expanded activities related to the exploration of the environment as well as everyday library use. The primary program elements are adult, young adult, and children reading rooms and collection spaces, and community spaces for regular library programming as well as for the Environmental Education Center. Lab spaces for interactive projects, a large community event space (which divides into two of the lab spaces), a lounge, small meeting rooms, and staff spaces are distributed on the two main floors.

 

The new Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center provides street level exterior green space, clear visual connections to interior activities, and two accessible green roofs on the upper floors. The plaza design offers the public an engaging civic space that demonstrates sustainability and reinterprets the environmental history of the region. Primary exterior building materials include custom sandblasted wood panels on the upper level and custom cast concrete on the lower level. The building will exceed required LEED goals, becoming a demonstration project for innovative approaches to sustainable design and a learning tool for the community.

Location

Brooklyn, NY

Client

Brooklyn Public Library

Completed

2020

MFA Design Team

Karen Fairbanks, Scott Marble, Nicholas Desbiens, Jason Roberts, Peter Adams, Benjamin Hait, Keenan Korth, Lauren Espeseth, Spenser Krut, Tanya Gershon, Ravipa Ramyarupa, Atrianne Dolom

Landscape Architect

SCAPE / Landscape Architecture

Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing Engineer / LEED

ads Engineers, PC

Structural Engineer

Robert Silman Associates

General Contractor

Westerman Construction Co, Inc

Civil / Geotechnical Engineer

Yu & Associates

IT / Security

Cosentini Associates

Audio / Visual Engineer

InToTo Professional Services, Inc

Wayfinding

MTWTF

Lighting Design

Tillotson Design Associates

Code Consultant

JAM Code Consultants

Recognition

Award, Institutional Architecture

Architecture Masterprize Award

National Design Award of Merit

SARA National Design Awards

Category Winner | Design and Environment

LOOP Design Awards

Popular Choice Winner, Libraries

Architizer A+ Awards

Nominee

Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize

Silver Medal, Regional and Urban Design

AIA Tri-State Awards

Award of Institutional Merit

AIA New York State Design Awards

Spaces and Places category Finalist

Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards

Institutional / Libraries Finalist

Architizer A+ Awards

NYCxDesign Award Greater Good: Social + Environmental Impact

Interior Design Magazine

American Architecture Award

Chicago Athenaeum

Award of Merit

AIA Brooklyn+Queens Design Awards

Design Excellence Award

New York City Public Design Commission