Envisioning a library as a community center

This two-story branch library is a civic, educational, and social hub in Chicago’s Chinatown. The bronze aluminum and glass enclosed structure is an instantly recognizable local landmark, easily accessible by public transit to serve residents of the surrounding Armour Square, South Loop, and Bridgeport neighborhoods. The former Chinatown library was one of the most visited of Chicago Public Library’s (CPL) eighty locations. Before selecting the architects for its replacement, the city’s Public Building Commission hosted a session for community members, librarians, and other stakeholders to envision what the new library should be. The group concluded that a modern urban branch library goes beyond being a source of encyclopedic knowledge and should serve as a community anchor where citizens can connect with global resources and ideas.

Flexible spaces for everyone

SOM’s team worked closely with CPL officials and with architect of record Wight & Co. to design a highly efficient building for present and future flexibility, geared toward inclusive community activities and driven by technology-based learning. Throughout the 16,000-square-foot library, a sequence of interconnected spaces creates a sense of discovery and exploration. The community area is fully visible from the street, allowing library patrons to look out at the urban surroundings and for pedestrians to take notice of the activities inside.

An open plan with very few enclosed spaces accommodates multiple uses and arrangements of furniture and fixtures over time. The children’s zone, exhibition space, central circulation hall, and a community meeting area occupy the ground level. The placement of the community space allows it to serve as a flexible, multipurpose room at the center of the library, useful for lectures, tutoring, quiet reading, lounging, and special events. A double-height hall and grand stair link the ground level to the teen YOUmedia zone and adult reading rooms above. Eye-height bookshelves in these areas create a sense of openness while still allowing for the creation of informal collaborative areas and intimate reading spots. A brightly colored acoustical curtain defines the teen zone. The spaces also include a multimedia storytelling area and are furnished with tables for homework and play.

Artful design and planning

Located on the second level wall is a mixed-media mural by artist CJ Hungerman. The eight-foot-high by sixty-foot-long artwork, titled “Universal Transverse Immigration Proclamation,” was commissioned through Chicago’s Public Art Program. The artist engaged the community in workshops to understand the area’s history and to gather generations of personal experiences before distilling it into an expression of Chinatown’s past, present, and future, through marker and paint.

The building’s south-facing entrance, a softened triangular shape, and gentle interior circulation, references feng shui design principles. Like a traditional Chinese courtyard plan, all spaces connect to the central atrium room, providing clear orientation and spatial cohesion. The soft curves of the three-sided structure match the alignment of the avenues, without creating sharp corners. This allows for a fluid movement of pedestrians, abundant landscaping, and visibility from all sides of the building. Vertical shading fins juxtapose an ultratransparent, high-performance glass curtain wall that maximizes visibility and makes the building appear as a glowing lantern at night.

Sustainable design

A comprehensive sustainability strategy has earned the building a LEED Platinum rating. Features include radiant cooling and heating, in-ground thermal storage tanks, a green roof, in-ground stormwater retention system, and natural daylighting technologies. A solar shading screen integrated into the building’s glass curtain wall reduces heat gain without compromising views and allows the building to consume 30 percent less energy than a typical library, while providing 70 percent vision glazing.

Comprehensive passive design strategies include the placement of the building core to the west to further reduce solar gain and glare. Low-energy LED lighting is used throughout the building and permeable paving with a high infiltration rate reduces the rate and quantity of stormwater runoff. The result is a building that has been recognized as a model for the sustainable design of new civic facilities.