TRANSFORMING THE LONGWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY
The reading alcove in the second floor Adult library looks out to the wooded landscape.
TRANSFORMING LONGWOOD: A New Life for our Community’s Library -- Suzanne Johnson, Library Director
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ongwood Public Library serves a large, diverse population in the middle of suburban Long Island. In 1988, despite a tight budget, site constraints and design limitations, Library Director David Clemens, succeeded in bringing a new modern, free-standing library to the community for the first time. But with a growing population and changing technological needs and media formats, we outgrew the facility in just 25 years. After becoming Longwood’s Library Director in 2011, I began to work closely with our administration and staff on a quest to update and expand our building. Through a comprehensive assessment of space needs and building conditions, we demonstrated to the Board of Trustees that the 25-year-old building was too small, was not energy efficient, and was compromised by dark and inflexible spaces. Over the years, the library had evolved into an active community center, and more space was needed for high quality programming. Working with Sandpebble, an experienced project management firm, we first engaged the community by inviting residents to participate in two intense workshops, called “charrettes.” The first charrette focused on establishing a set of goals and objectives. In the second charrette, three architectural firms created separate design teams including architects, library staff, and board members. Each team presented its conceptual ideas to the community. Peter Gisolfi presented a plan that resonated most clearly with the community and the Board, and Peter Gisolfi Associates was awarded the commission to design the library. We set up a building committee, comprised of the architectural team, the project managers, key staff, and Board representatives, to guide the design process. We recognized conceptually how the building could be expanded and re-organized, but many issues required further study and discussion. As a group, we met with Peter Gisolfi and his partner, Frank Craine, every two to four weeks.
During these meetings, the designers would bring updated plans based on previous decisions, and new alternatives to move us forward. As soon as we were comfortable with our schematic plan and initial exterior views of the building, we launched our campaign to obtain the public’s approval. The public bond referendum for renovating and expanding Longwood passed handily in October 2012, and we were on our way. Peter Gisolfi Associates and Sandpebble continued to move the process steadily through design development, construction documents, bidding and award. Since Longwood is also a School District library, the project needed to be approved by the New York State Education Department. We looked at ways to phase the project that might allow us to occupy the building during construction, but it became apparent that this would add more complexity and time to the endeavor. We decided to move to temporary quarters, and found a suitable location nearby. Our transformed, expanded space reopened on October 9, 2015, three years after the bond vote -- on time and within budget. The transformation of the Longwood Public Library is truly remarkable, and the community’s enthusiastic response to our fresh, spacious, light-filled building has been the best reward. Focusing the building toward the wooded preserve to the south allows the beauty of nature to be seen and felt from inside. We are planning to develop walking trails within the natural landscape, which will be accessible from the new reading terrace. The true success of the new library is in how well the building functions. It is easier to understand how to move from space to space. Library operations are more transparent and, therefore, easier to supervise. With its new infrastructure and updated building systems, it is more energy efficient. Longwood Public Library now has the space it needs to serve the community in new ways, and has met our objective of creating a building that will sustain the community far into the future.
“I like the way the rooms have space that doesn’t make you feel cramped. Each area is easy to navigate and the areas for display make it easy to access. The librarian stations are very visible....” -- D. Baker., Middle Island Resident
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TRANSFORMING LONGWOOD: A Natural Landscape Creates a New Focus for the Longwood Public Library -- Peter Gisolfi, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP Principal, Peter Gisolfi Associates
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he Longwood Public Library is located in Middle Island in the Town of Brookhaven on Long Island in New York State. It shares the borders of the school district and serves a population of 65,000. The placement of the library mediates between two diverse settings: it faces north toward Route 25, a busy state road, while its southern boundary is a four-acre woodland, owned by the library. Longwood Library was constructed in the 1980s on a tight budget. To save money, many windows were eliminated from the design. As a result, the second-floor community room had no windows, and the adult library had small slot windows facing south with two-story stacks that blocked any views to the woodland. Despite these limitations, the building served the community well for 30 years. In 2011, the newly appointed Library Director, Suzanne Johnson, embarked on a campaign to modernize and expand the library. With the support of the Library Board, a project management company, Sandpebble, was hired to organize design workshops called “charrettes” to engage design professionals and the community. Three architectural firms were invited to participate. The first charrette in June 2011 was for information gathering. During the second charrette the next month, two architects from each firm led separate design teams that included a member of the library staff, a trustee, and several community stakeholders. Each of the six teams produced a design scheme early in day; later that same day, the schemes were presented to all participants. The scheme from the group I led was influenced by a walk I took with David Clemens, the former library director. We explored the natural landscape to the south, and I understood immediately that the building could take advantage of that setting. Our scheme focused the library toward the woods, added a wing onto the west side of the building, and established a clear identity along Route 25. This scheme became the preferred plan, and Peter Gisolfi Associates was selected as the architect.
Design Intentions Working in close collaboration with the Library’s Building Committee, we developed clear objectives for the project to: •
Create an active community cultural center.
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Create a civic presence on Route 25.
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Connect the natural landscape visually to the library.
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Organize the building to be easily understood by the public.
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Modify the building to be transparent and filled with daylight.
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Expand and reconstruct the building to conserve energy.
Reorganizing and Transforming the Building As the diagram to the right shows, the library’s first floor is organized along an internal east-west pathway that begins at the newly-enlarged entryway from the parking lot on the east, and ends at the children’s library in the new addition on the west. The north side of the pathway houses meeting rooms, the teen area, and digital instruction space; the south side includes an information desk and a new two-story reading room. An open stair connects the reading room to the second level, where administrative offices, quiet study areas, periodicals, and the adult library (in the new addition) all overlook the two-story space, the centerpiece of the library. Adjacent to the reading room is a reading terrace with views to the woodland. The transformed building establishes a new dialogue with its setting. Throughout the building, generously-sized windows add daylight and transparency; a glass wall to the south faces the woods. Along Route 25, large-scaled windows offer views of the newly-installed sidewalk and street trees. The parking lot has been redesigned and planted with native vegetation. The entire site has been reconfigured to reduce stormwater runoff. The library engages the site in new ways: it connects to the “green” parking landscape on the east, to the natural landscape on the south, and to the commercial landscape on the north.
A Successful Outcome The success of the Longwood Library project is the result of an effective collaboration between our firm, the library’s administration and staff, and Sandpebble. Four years of intense interaction demonstrate that an engaged board and a strong Library Director are essential for success. Suzanne Johnson proved to be an exceptional leader; she encouraged the board and professional staff to participate actively, thus setting the scene for constructive collaboration. 2
Children’s Library Adult Library Lobby/Circ. Desk/ New Items Circulation
Stacks
Stacks Admin
Admin.
Original Building First Floor
Community Room
Original Building Second Floor
Middle Country Road Middle (Route Country 25) Middle Road Country (RouteRoad 25) (Route 25) Expansion
Teens
Community/ Function Room Teens
Lobby New Items Children’s Fiction/ Library Reading Area
Information New ItemsDesk Children’s Fiction/ Library Reading Area Admin.
Community/ Function Room Teens Parking Lobby
Original Footprint
Community/ Function Room
Parking Lobby
Parking
NewInformation Items Desk Information Desk Fiction/ Reading Area Admin.
Terrace
Terrace
Terrace
Views
Views
Views
Nature Preserve
Expansion
Original Footprint
Nature PreserveNature Preserve
Adult Library
Periodicals Adult Library
Admin.
Periodicals Adult Adult Library
Admin. Views
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Expanded / Transformed Building - First Floor
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Nature Preserve
Conf. Views
Periodicals Adult Library
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Conf. Adm
Admin. Views
Nature PreserveNature Preserve
Expanded / Transformed Building - Second Floor
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Original east entry
Enlarged glass entrance adjacent to the parking lot.
“When I walked through the doors of the newly remodeled Longwood Public Library, I was amazed at the spacious building filled with a tremendous amount of natural light and energy efficiency.� -- D. Bush, Middle Island Resident
The new, smaller circulation desk with transparency to the adjacent spaces Original circulation desk
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Original Teen area
“True North is the most welcoming space for teens I could have imagined. From the group that spreads out to collaborate to the dreamer who finds a great story and settles into a cozy chair to read for hours, it is clear that our teens feel right at home as soon as they enter. ” -- Jan Miller,
The new Teen space (“True North”) is north of the central reading room
Department Head of Teen Services
“I noticed the biggest difference in the Children’s room. In the old building the Children’s room was so cramped! Every single vertical space was used for material and storage. At times I felt claustrophobic. When I took my daughter in between the shelves, I honestly thought a storage tub would fall on us. Now there is so much open space with low shelving that it’s very inviting to browsing children. I love the early childhood play area that is self-contained. Parents don’t have to worry about their children running out the door.” -- D. Bush, resident
The spacious Children’s room with low stacks and ample day light
Original Children’s area
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The new two-story central reading room overlooks the reading terrace and wooded landscape to the south.
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“It’s a marvelous building to look at and the ways the rooms have been designed are ideal. The expanse of the building is an amazing thing to see....” -- D. Baker, Middle Island resident
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The former stacks have been transformed into a double-height space.
“Other than the sweet, new, huge space for teens, the thing that I love most about the new building itself is the brightness. There is really no substitute for the sun’s light and the atmosphere that it creates.....
View from the second floor mezzanine looking over the two-story reading room. Original second floor
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In the Adult area on the second floor, natural light penetrates the building through north-facing clerestories.
...The windows make the whole space seem as open and wonderful as the people inside.� -- Michelle Joseph, former teen member of the Battle of the Books team
North light illuminates the Adult area on the second floor.
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Original south elevation
New south elevation facing the wooded landscape
New wing, south façade & reading terrace at dusk
“...The bright, open and flexible layout of the new building provides residents with windows to each area and to the nature preserve as well, embodying our new mantra ‘Longwood Public Library, Your Window to the World....’” --K. Soscia, Longwood Public Library Trustee South Elevation - Original
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The Children’s room on the first floor and the Adult reading alcove on the second floor engage the natural landscape to the south.
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The transformed, expanded library and its new reading terrace
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Sustainability In order to create an energy-efficient library, the entire building envelope has been insulated with spray foam, all windows are triple glazed, and a new energy-saving heating and cooling system has been installed. The building anticipates receiving LEED Gold certification.
Sustainable Features • Energy consumption reduced by 50% while expanding building by 50% (from 31,500 sf to 45,360 sf). • Heating and cooling systems updated • Walls and roofs well insulated • New energy efficient windows installed • Natural light and ventilation maximized • Air quality improved • Photovoltaic panels installed on roof
RIGHT: The new two-story central reading room looks south to the new reading terrace and wooded landscape beyond.
PET ER G IS O L F I A SSO C I ATE S Architects • Landscape Architects, LLP
566 Warburton Avenue Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706 Phone: (914) 478-3677 www.petergisolfiassociates.com
Peter Gisolfi Associates is a firm of architects, landscape architects, and interior architects located in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY with a secondary office in New Haven, CT. Founded by Peter Gisolfi in 1976, the firm’s work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. We value teamwork and collaboration, and are committed to providing close personal service to all of our clients from project inception to completion.