Portland Public Library
Architects & Firms
Portland, Maine
Program: A renovation of Portland's International Style public library, with a new café, an expanded computer center, a larger children's area, a new space for teens, meeting rooms, and an auditorium, spread over the main and lower levels. The 47,077-square-foot building includes a second and third level, which will be renovated in phase two of the project, and a fourth level housing mechanical space.
Design concept and solution: Scott Simons Architects wanted to open up the library's dark, cavelike interior and turn it into an inviting public space without altering the granite exterior of Portland's only International Style building. They moved the library's entrance—previously in the depths of the building, at the end of a long ramped corridor—to the sidewalk. On the exterior, the architects took advantage of unused outdoor space in the shadow of a double-height overhang: they glassed it in to create an atrium café and new entrance hall. Above the overhang, they extended the glass out from the facade, giving the curtain wall the appearance of weaving in and out of the undisturbed slate. Inside, the Scott Simons team removed the walls that had enclosed the old entrance corridor and added open stairs to the floors above and below, revealing the logic of the building. Sheet-glass railings further improve sight lines, and a straightforward materials palette of clear-finished wood and metallic-looking metals reinforces the architects' what-you-see-is-what-you-get approach.
Architect:
Scott Simons Architects, LLC
75 York Street
Portland, Maine 04101
Phone: 207.772.4656
Fax: 207.828.4656
Location: 5 Monument Square, Portland, Maine
Completion Date: April 2010
Total construction cost: $5.7 million
PeopleOwner: Portland Public Library, City of Portland Architect Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Architect of record: Scott Simons Architects LLC Engineer(s): MEP: Allied Engineering, Inc Consultant(s) General contractor: Ledgewood Construction Photographer(s) Renderer(s) CAD system, project management, or other software used: |
ProductsExterior cladding Roofing Windows Glazing Skylights: Sungate 500 Caribia by PPG Doors Metal doors: Curries Wood doors: Algoma Wood Doors Fire-control doors, security grilles: Cookson Rolling Doors Hardware Hinges: McKinney Closers: Sargent Exit devices: Sargent Pulls: Rockwell Cabinet hardware: Blum Interior finishes Suspension grid: Prelude XL by Armstrong, Optima Capz by Armstrong Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: White Oak/3 Form Paints and stains: Sherwin Williams Paneling: 3 Form Varia EcoResin, 3 Form Chroma Special surfacing: Corian Solid Surfacing Wall Tile: Daltile; Flooring/Walls: Sheldon Slate Resilient flooring: Altro Quartz Tile Carpet: Shaw Prism Tile Furnishings Creative Office Pavilion – Herman Miller Here Training tables Huston & Company – custom tables Other furniture: Huston & Company – custom benches Lighting Downlights: Focal Point, Eureka Task lighting: Luxo, Bartco Exterior: Insight LED Conveyance Plumbing |
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