Hunter College Library occupies seven floors plus two basement levels of the 22 story Hunter East building on 68th  Street & Lexington Avenue built in 1968. As with many university and college libraries today, the Hunter Library is being transformed by new information technologies, new storage and retrieval systems and an expanding role to provide a multitude of new services to the college community. This project involves a planning study of the entire library and the design of the top two floors. The general direction of the planning study is to relocate most of the collection to the lower basement levels in compact storage opening up the upper floors for more open, multi-functional uses.

The program for the seventh floor includes writing, math & science learning centers, a pre-professional advising suite, and a fixed seat presentation theater. The sixth floor includes an education library and dedicated space for the Macaulay Honors College. Flexible study, reading and social spaces are dispersed throughout both floors and serve to bring together students & faculty from different academic programs in a more casual and informal environment. A new open stair connects the two floors and also extends to a rooftop reading garden.

The primary design concept developed from an interest in giving a varied and unique sense of scale to different programs and activities. The original building was designed with a steel frame structure with deep beams in many locations resulting in limited floor-to-ceiling heights. In contrast to the uniform ceiling height typical of buildings of the era, our interest was to provide a range of ceiling heights. After a survey of the existing beam locations, we developed a ceiling design that varied in height from 7’-8” under deep beams to create more intimate areas to 12’-6” between beams to create more spacious areas.

Glen Oaks Branch Library replaces an existing one story facility with a new 18,000sf high performance, LEED certified building located at the juncture of a low scale commercial/institutional area with a suburban residential neighborhood.  The program includes reading rooms on all three levels, a cybercenter, and community meeting spaces.

The above grade massing and material treatment respond to the very different site conditions on each elevation, while the interior library spaces are open plans with reading rooms on all three levels.

As the building area required is double that allowable by zoning, half of the interior spaces are placed below grade. A double-height space adjacent to the building entry and three strip skylights in the plaza bring light through a contoured ceiling to define more specific reading areas in the reading room below. The profile of the contoured ceiling is read at the double-height space, making a visual connection between the plaza surface and the ceiling surface, accentuating the artificiality of the ground. The landscape strategy takes into account the ground surface’s dual role as an outdoor public space and its inversion as the roof of the cellar below, exploring the relationship between artifice and nature.

A large picture-window along the front elevation provides views into and out of the second floor children’s area, while also satisfying the Library’s desire to provide a civic identity to the community. Other exterior materials, including channel glazing and fiber cement board paneling, merge the scale of the library to Union Turnpike and its residential adjacencies.

The building houses faculty offices and administrative spaces for the department, as well as some shared meeting spaces. The first floor of the building is visually open to the street and provides a significant new space for departmental events. This new event space has a custom designed ceiling of expanded metal panels; their ephemeral effect is to lightly mask the existing infrastructure while accommodating lights in a pattern that flows across the space. Felt surfaces and an emphasis on shared light create continuity throughout the floors. The walls of faculty offices are translucent glass along the circulation spaces in order to share light from the perimeter to the interiors. Book shelves located behind the glass creates a pattern of faculty book collections seen in silhouette from the public spaces.

The solution is based on urban loft living where the industrial character and structural idiosyncrasies of the existing building are incorporated into the design of four large lofts on two floors. In addition to the living lofts, the project includes a range of public amenities that are shared with the existing residence hall including a media den, a shared kitchen for communal cooking, built-in banquet seating, study zones, a living room, and a courtyard lounge. The two floors were connected with a new concrete stair and a double-height opening with a skylight to bring natural light through the center of the building and into the lower level spaces.

This project supports the integration of the Brooklyn Public Library’s resources with those of the Center for Brooklyn History, facilitating the transition from a previously private institution to one that is public. Throughout the first phase of this project, we conducted a planning study identifying challenges, opportunities, long-term goals, and short-term strategies that provide a roadmap to advancing the Center for Brooklyn History. Realizing one of the many strategies outlined in the planning study, the second phase of this project includes a renovation of the public library and gallery spaces that transform the center into a welcoming and accessible destination for the local community.

Improving access to the Center for Brooklyn History, the reconfigured entrance is centralized within the sloped entry plaza, while new outdoor seating fosters community gathering, activating the plaza and adjacent street corner. Unrestricted street-level windows create a stronger visual connection between interior activities and those at the street. New exterior signage identifies the once-private building within its surrounding neighborhood. Custom interior signage and new digital display share information about collections, exhibitions, and the broader network of Brooklyn Public Library locations, enhancing the visibility and presence of the center, revealing activities taking place within, and supporting visitor engagement. A new welcome desk and signage improve wayfinding, and a ramp connecting the main entry to the historic interior, provides easier access to upper-floor collections. Interior enhancements, such as new furniture and a retail area, create an inviting space for reading, studying, working, and exploring exhibitions. The vibrant colors of the lounge furniture echo the historic brick façade, visually linking the interior and exterior.

This project not only preserves the historical significance of the Center for Brooklyn History but also enhances its role as a cultural hub, and our long-term plan provides a guide for growth into the future. By improving accessibility, visibility, and its presence within the community, the Center for Brooklyn History evolved into a dynamic public resource that celebrates Brooklyn’s rich history and provides support for its local community.