Hailey Starolis

C E C I L B M O O R E P U B L I C L I B R A RY R E I M A G I N I N G T H E P U B L I C L I B R A RY I N T H E 2 1 S T C E N T U RY

Hailey Starolis

Thesis Advisor: Dan McCoubrey

PROJECT SITE & SUMMARY

BROAD STREET LINE

SITE

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOLS

GIRARD COLLEGE

COMMUNITY CENTERS

PUBLIC PARKS

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The site is located within Philadelphia’s Cecil B. Moore Neighborhood. The high density of schools and affordable housing locations near this site means that there is the possibility for many students who may not have access to computers and other technology,.

The site is one of many vacant lots in this neighborhood, part of the deteriorating urban fabric. The original size of the proposed site is around 40,600 sq ft.

The initial program breakdown at the design review,

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The immediate site context is made up of mostly residential buildings. Northwest of the site is the Woodstock family center, across the street is the Peace Garden and several rows of two and three story row homes.

Top Left: Woodstock Family Center, Top Right: Row homes adjacent to site, Bottom: Peace Garden

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The building program has been centered on a specialized spaces based on the direct and immediate needs of the community. Through data collection it was determined this library would need to focus on a space for teenagers and a space which provides education support.

The major spaces in this library include a centralized living room space which provides various types of seating, a sunken space for children, a maker space for community led projects, several spaces for education-focused events, and an entire elevated space for teenagers.

DATA & ANALYSIS

The Cecil B Moore site was selected by comparing nine libraries across Philadelphia. By comparing the population size served by the library and the size of the library it became clear that Cecil B Moore has the highest population but one of the smallest buildings.

Top Left: Exterior Photo of the existing Cecil B Moore Library Top Right: Map showing the nine locations which were compared in order to ďŹ nd a site for this project

The diagram above shows the breakdown of education rates in Cecil B. Moore.

22% without a high school diploma, 60% with a high school diploma, and 18% with higher education

The above maps show the different K-8 (top left) and High School (top right) catchments that surround the site. The sheer magnitude of schools near this library offer endless possibilities for the library to support these local schools and provide a space for the students.

The diagram above shows the breakdown of employments rates in Cecil B Moore.

40% employed, 8% Unemployed, 51% other, and less than 1% in the armed forces

The population breakdown shows that the largest portion of the population is ages nineteen and under. This coupled with the understanding that a larger portion of the population are unable to access higher education, which in turn prevents them for seeking better employment opportunities shows that this libraries specialization must focus on teenagers and on supporting residents as they work to complete their educational goals.

CASE STUDIES

The above image shows the Hamilton Grange Teen Center in New York City. This case study shows the importance of designing a space speciďŹ cally for the needs of teenagers, which differs greatly from what is traditionally put in place. The space is bright, open, and allows teens a space to access technology and a space for socialization.

The case study show to the right is a local project, The Charles Library at Temple University. This projects illustrated how libraries are changing as technology and collaborative space become more important than endless rows of library stacks. The diagram on the bottom right shows the spatial arrangement of the fourth oor and the different relationships expressed there.

The top image is the Princess Maxima Center for Child Oncology, located in the Netherlands. The bridge which connects the two existing buildings pulls colors which are present in those facades and makes them the focal point of the bridge. The use of colorful glazing creates a vibrant and interactive connection between the two main buildings.

The image to the right is the LocHal Library in the Netherlands. This massive library uses its exposed structure to emphasis the design. The use of exposed structure to divide up the massive space to various zones helps make the large space manageable.

DESIGN REVIEW

An early part of the project was working to understand how libraries are laid out and operated today. This was done through several visits to multiple libraries and noting the similarities and differences. To the left is a diagrammatic representation of the existing Cecil B Moore Neighborhood Library. These studies revealed that all libraries had a children’s zone, the Cecil B Moore Library has almost half of its space devoted to children, but only one library had space devoted to teenager. These studies also helped to pinpoint what types of community spaces the libraries had to offer and what spaces they wished they had.

Part of the early programming exercises was creating blocks of program; determining which program features wanted to be near each other, what relationship these spaces would have to light or sound, and how these spaces should relate to the building circulation.

The ďŹ rst option, shown on the left, pushes the community spaces forward and the education-focused spaces towards the rear of the building. In this arrangement the second story portion is also along the rear of the building to avoid casting too much shadows on the neighboring residences.

The top left images show option two, which is defined most by its L-shaped second floor which wraps the left side and rear of the building. In this arrangement the kid’s space is pushed towards the front of the building while the education and community spaces are pulled to the rear. This arrangement opens the center of the space to tons of light and again focuses on not casting shadows on the residences east and south of the site.

The bottom left images show option three, which flips the arrangement of the second story spaces to wrap around the rear and right hand site of the building. This arrangement pushes the community spaces and teen spaces toward the right hand side while the kid’s space is pushed to the rear alongside the education support spaces.

The common things among these three options are as follows: A north-west entry to strengthen the corner and promote people safely crossing the street, an extension of the urban edge at the Norris Street facade, a clear separation between the kid and teen spaces, and an emphasis put on getting light into the center of the space while being aware of the shadow being cast on the neighbors.

TECHNICAL REVIEW

Feedback from the Design Review suggested several changes and new avenues to explore moving forward, the most relevant of which was the suggestion to drastically decrease the size of my library by focusing on spaces that could function in multiple arrangements. This decreased the number of spaces and forced the remaining spaces to be as flexible as possible.

The plan now is organized around a larger “living room” space and an angled axis that connects the front and rear outdoor areas. The specialized program spaces have moved to one end of the building while the more traditional library spaces take up the majority of the remaining floor plan.

The above diagrams highlight various elements of the new library space. The ďŹ rst shows the bldg. axis, the second the arrangement of open and closed spaces, and the third shows the circulation of the space.

The below image shows a section through the main space of the library and highlights the buttery roof and steel truss system.

PROCESS DIAGRAMS

The diagram to the right shows an early study of bookshelf heights and how adjusting bookshelves to be lower would improve the overall experience of the space by allowing for a clear view across the space.

The diagrams along the bottom of the page are updated versions of early diagrams to illustrate how the space has developed over time.

The axis in the ďŹ nal oor plan had gotten stronger thanks to the development of the entry sequence. The open vs closed diagram shows how the closed spaces have all moved to the left side of the building leaving the rest of the space wide open.

The above diagram shows how the building structure is arranged along two grids. The blue grid has smaller spans because those spaces are more enclosed. The red grid has large spans to better accommodate a more open space. The columns along the red grid also support steel trusses and the buttery roof.

The diagram to the right shows the development of the entry sequences as it was shaped by exterior and interior forces. The front facade keeps some of the urban edge before pulling back to create a small front plaza. The vestibule then pops forward and strengthens the building’s angled axis along the interior space.

SITE PLAN & FRONT ELEVATION

Site plan showing the inďŹ lled neighboring residential lots, the front and rear spaces around the building.

The view to the right shows the angled entry path as it cuts in along the face of the building. From this perspective you can get a sense of how active this front planter is and how it can become a meeting place.You can also begin to understand the colored glazing curtain wall and the curtain wall that supports it.

The front elevation is made up of three major zones. The center portion of the building houses the main living room space which is intended to be lofty and full of light brought it by the oor to ceiling curtain wall. The colored glazing system is intended to create a lively facade that is bright and inviting to the community.

FINAL FLOOR PLANS

The ground floor, shown on the left, houses the majority of the program including the living room, a sunken kid’s area, a maker space with its own entrance along 20th street, and an education support area with large bank of computers and flexible spaces. The arrangement of the main living room space is broken up into three zones by the bookshelves which accommodate different types of seating for different uses, The second floor, shown on the right, is comprised entirely of the teen lounge. This gives the teens there on space slightly removed from the rest of the building while maintaining visual connections to the main space below.

The diagrams on the left are showing the main zones of the ďŹ rst and second oor plans.

The view above shows the interior space if one were looking along the main axis of the building. From here there is a clear line of sight to the rear exist, the stairs, and across the living room spaces.

FINAL SECTIONS

The section below is cutting through the left side of the building which houses the more specialized spaces in this building. Here you can see the maker space which breaks the traditional two story arrangement and allows visual connections between the teen lounge on the second oor and the various community led projects that would be created in that space.

The diagram to the left shows the development of the steel truss system as it progressed throughout the duration of this project.

The section below cuts through the main space of the library and puts an emphasis on the structure and accentuates the heights of the space. The bookshelves separate the different seating areas into three zones with different uses.

FEEDBACK & FINAL VIEW

The jurors from the final review has several points which would, if more time were allowed on the project, helped to strengthen the design and further develop certain areas.

This feedback is as follows: -

Further development of the front plaza space. More space should have been given to the entry area and the planter should have been focused inward rather than outward to better illustrate how the plaza was an extension of the library’s interior spaces.

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Develop a stronger connection between the kid’s space and the exterior spaces, particularly the rear garden.

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Integrate more sustainability features like water retention and passive haus building systems to improve the buildings performance.

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Further development of the curtain walls system and giving the front and rear curtain walls a different identity as well as figuring out how the colored glazing would affect the lighting quality of the interior spaces.

The view to the right showcases the main living room space in the library. The view highlights the structure and the height of the space.