The $33.1 million, 35,000-sf Elkridge (Md.) branch library, which opened March 10, replaced a library half its size that was built in 1993. The bigger facility is needed for a market whose population is projected to grow by 40% to 38,000 by 2030.
Beyond lending books and DVDs, the library’s DIY Education Center lends household tools like ladders, tape measures, sanders, wheelbarrows, and sewing machines, for free (with a $1 per day late-returning charge). The building also has a 10,000-sf senior center, with its own entrance, where patrons 50 years or older can avail themselves of programs for fitness, wellness, nutrition, and technology education.
“It’s kind of a one-stop shop, and it’s offering what society is craving: hands-on learning,” observes Melanie Hennigan, AIA, President of Grimm + Parker Architects, which designed this building.
Photo: Grimm + Parker Architects
The building is located parallel to Route 1, and interior lighting that shines through its windows makes this library highly visible during evening hours. Being next to a residential neighborhood, the library reinforces its connection to the community via walking trails and walkways that cross over nearby wetlands, says Hennigan.
The Building Team on this project included: Grimm + Parker Architects (design architect), Howard County Dept. of Public Works, Howard County Library System, Howard County Office of Aging and Independence (owners reps), Costello Construction (GC), Pennoni Associates (CE), Columbia Engineering (SE), Gipe Associates (MEP), Bradley Site Design (landscape architect), Sustainable Design Consulting (LEED consultant).
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Harvard Public Library
Harvard, Mass.
Five years ago, the town of Harvard, Mass., which lies about 30 miles west of Boston, faced two problems. First, its iconic public schoolhouse, known as Old Bromfield, which was built in 1877, had become outdated. So, too, had its public library, which had no room to grow on its site.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gilbane, Whiting-Turner among nation's largest university contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 University Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit /giants
| Aug 11, 2010
AASHE releases annual review of sustainability in higher education
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has announced the release of AASHE Digest 2008, which documents the continued rapid growth of campus sustainability in the U.S. and Canada. The 356-page report, available as a free download on the AASHE website, includes over 1,350 stories that appeared in the weekly AASHE Bulletin last year.
| Aug 11, 2010
Burt Hill, HOK top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest university design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 University Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, HDR top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest institutional building design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 Institutional Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
College uses renewable materials in new library
A 93,000-sf Library and Academic Resource Center will replace Los Angeles Valley College's 1960s-vintage library. Pfeiffer Partners Architects designed the building to be consistent with the college's master plan, with its learning clusters and arcade circulation system. To obtain LEED certification, the center will use recycled and renewable materials, such as bamboo.
| Aug 11, 2010
Northeast Lakeview College opens in Texas, to serve 15,000 students
After four years of construction, Northeast Lakeview College, the newest addition to Alamo Colleges, is complete. Designed by Overland Partners Architects in collaboration with Ford Powell & Carson, the nine-building, 285-acre campus in Universal City, near San Antonio, will serve up to 15,000 students.
| Aug 11, 2010
Community college’s hillside learning center
The Earl E. and Dorothy J. Dellinger Learning Resource Center at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands, Va., is the centerpiece of this mountainside school. Designed by Arlington, Va.-based The Lukmire Partnership, the 50,000-sf, two-story building connects the upper and lower campuses, which are separated by a 70-foot vertical grade change.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIG beats out Foster and Hadid in design competition for Kazakhstan's National Library
Invited as one of five pre-selected architect-led teams that included Lord Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid, Copenhagen-based BIG was awarded first prize in an international design competition for the new National Library in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 33,000-square-meter facility will be organized as a “circular loop of knowledge” that allows for clear, intuitive orientation of the vast co...
