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Kirkwood Public Library, American Building, Project, Photo, News, USA, Design, Property, Image
Key Development in United States of America
Kirkwood Public Library, New Castle County, Delaware, USA2009
ikon.5 architects
12 Oct 2009
Photos © James D’Addio
• 22,500 square feet
• Community Meeting Room
• Children’s Library
• Young Adults
• Information Technology Center
• Emergency Medical Services Station
• Project Completed: August 2009
Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects - New Jersey Chapter, Oct 2009
Set along a commercial shopping strip highway, Kirkwood Public Library is designed as
roadside billboard announcing the public civic function of reading, learning and
exploration within. The objective was to create a new branch library for a growing
diverse community that would serve as the iconic community center of the
neighborhood. Shopping malls and fast food restaurants flank both sides of the site.
Large commercial signs are stacked along the highway where this library is sited and a
small scale residential neighborhood is set one block in from the highway site.
It is within this context, that the Kirkwood Public Library appears as a collection of books
set on the highway. Facing the highway, the building facade of stacked horizontal
cement board siding is fashioned as a series of boxes that represent the edge of books
piled up on their side. The result is stark geometric forms that effectively sign the building
and its function to the community along this aggressively commercial environment.
Adjacent to the residential neighborhood, a double height canopy cantilevers from the
façade like a page of a book, providing shelter to the front door. At the western end of
the site, a glazed two story reading room is covered in a cedar solar screen. The screen
permits desirable views out while controlling solar gain and day light harvesting.
Internally, the program is arranged along the length of the highway to increase visibility
and to shelter the entry side from traffic.
Kirkwood Public Library images / information from ikon.5 architects
Another Delaware Library by ikon.5 architects:
Hockessin Public Library, New Castle County
2009
photo © James D’Addio
Hockessin Public Library
American Library Buildings - Selection
Seattle Public Library, Washington
photo: Philippe Ruault
Centennial Hills Library, Las Vegas, Nevada
image from BRA
World Architecture : e-architect - key buildings across the globe
Comments / photos for the Kirkwood Public Library American Architecture page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
Kirkwood Public Library Building : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt