Queens Builds: Kew Gardens Hills Library

The last of the five buildings in Queens that I drove by a couple weeks ago is the Kew Gardens Hill Library, which was part of a "Queens Builds" blog post back in 2009. Seven years later, it is a construction site:


What the building, designed by WORKac, should look like when done:

[Rendering via WORKac]

The project is part renovation, part expansion, with an L-shaped volume of space wrapping around the existing library's rectangular plan. As can be glimpsed in the below photo, the existing has basically been gutted and turned into an open plan.


WORKac's design is all about the rippling GFRC facade that is "lifted" at the corners for views into and out of the library. The facade is "dog-eared" to create a small awning at the entrance (visible below and in the rendering). The dip at the entrance promises to give a good look of the green roof once it's in place.


The lifted facade helps the small branch make a strong neighborhood statement with minimal means.



from A Daily Dose of Architecture http://ift.tt/2bUSLHL