Program: A seven-level, 306,000-square-foot library at Ohio State University, with a central tower of stacks bounded by two atria. The project is a renovation of the circa 1913 Beaux Arts building and its later additions (one from 1947–51 and another from 1977). The library includes reading rooms, group study rooms, a café, a computer lounge, a multimedia production lab, offices, and a roof terrace.
Design concept and solution: Charged with turning a cluttered library that largely functioned as three separate buildings into a unified whole, Gund aimed to reorganize the interior and reconcile varying building styles without adding bulk. The architects removed the east and west stone walls of the central book tower and replaced them with glass, transforming a formerly closed-off mini-building into a light-filled anchor for the library. They demolished the west wing (the addition from 1977) and replaced it with a new skylit atrium featuring a curved glass facade. The east wing—the original 1913 structure—was gutted and expanded to create a matching atrium. The glass-encased book tower connects the atria and exposes the layout of the building, allowing the three elements to work together as a single volume.
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