The rapidly-growing town of Braselton hired Arcollab to create a new 8,100 sq ft young adult & children’s wing to their public library. Designing a modern two-story addition to an existing one-story, neo-traditional, 5,580 sq ft library with wrap around porches on three sides presented a significant challenge. Rather than creating a visual extension of the architectural vocabulary of the existing building, our solution was to create an “outbuilding” foil to the residential character of the current library.
The two-story gable form of the addition is inspired by historic barn and mill structures on neighboring properties as well as the simple form of a building from a child’s perspective. To house all of the necessary program without the gabled form overshadowing the existing building in scale and mass, we began to slide out portions of the side walls with lower flat roofs—akin to pulling a drawer out from a bureau. On the west side the wall doesn’t just pull out—it swings open like the cover of a book, revealing the contents inside through a glass wall. The angled glass wall relates to the cross street at the northwest side of the property and opens to a children’s garden.
The interior staircase to the meeting rooms is interwoven with storytime stadium seating which extends through the northwestern glass wall to the garden for outdoor programming as well. Nooks are created below the staircase to create exploration and cozy individual and small-group reading spots for children.
Circulation through the addition is clearly defined using floor finish patterns and ceiling changes, with designated areas for young adult, chapter books, and juvenile stack sections. The information desk is centrally located to maintain sightlines to all sections while also easily accessible from the adjacent staff workroom.
In adition to the outdoor ampitheater, the project includes a children’s garden with story walk, a new parking lot extension, and stormwater management system that serves as a best-practices demonstration and educational tool.
