Stepping inside the New York Public Library's new Stapleton Branch by Andrew Berman Architect

Andrew Berman Architect was put in charge of updating the New York Public Library's Stapleton Branch in Staten Island into a new spacious building to meet the community's evolving needs. Completed in 2013, the 12,000 square-foot library shows off an eye-catching glazed facade of windows inviting passers-by on the street to come inside. Stitching together old and new, the renovated library is also connected to the restored, single-room Carnegie Library — which has served the community for more than a century.

Last month, the Stapleton library was one of eight projects to win a 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building Award. Read on for more.

“A single room Carnegie branch library, designed by Carrere and Hastings in 1909, was to be renovated as part of the Stapleton library expansion. An empty adjacent lot was allocated for a 7,000 square foot addition to create a new library of 12,000 square feet that would better serve the community and its current needs.”

“The new library was intended above all to be an inviting, open, and accessible public space for the community. It had to be on a single level, stitch new building to old, and be handicapped accessible. An open plan, easily monitored by staff, that provided strategic spatial separations between children’s areas, teen area, and adult area was desired. Working with the sloping grade of the land, the new building was sited such that a new street entrance could be accessed from grade, without steps”

“Teen and adult reading and research areas are located inside, separated by a transparent community room. The original Carnegie Library, which is immediately accessed off the new entry, was restored true to its original design, and is now the children’s reading room.”

“The library is the digital hub and resource for the neighborhood, providing Wi-Fi and computer terminals for students and residents. While information is increasingly available and distributed digitally, Andrew Berman Architect wanted to assert the enduring relevance and primacy of the book. As such, all walls are lined with bookshelves, putting the entire collection of the library within view — and within reach — of all its patrons.”

“The structurally glazed facade invites the public and supplies natural light. The exposed wood structure provides a sense of rhythm, scale and material richness unexpected in contemporary public buildings. A radiant heating system efficiently warms the polished concrete floors.”

Find more project images in the gallery, or check out the rest of the 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building winners in the link below.