A New Knowledge Center
Marcy Marro, Managing Editor,
Posted
01/09/2012
Located in Lawrenceville, Ga., Georgia
Gwinnett College was the first four-year institution to
be chartered in the University System of Georgia in more than
100 years and the first Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools accredited campus in the 21st century.
Designed by Atlanta-based Leo A. Daly, the school's Library
and Learning Center is the first academic library in Georgia
to achieve LEED Gold certification; one of only seven LEED
Gold-certified academic libraries in the United
States; and the fifth Gold-certified facility in
Gwinnett County, Ga.
The college's mission is to create the 'campus of
tomorrow,' founded and operating on innovation, efficiency,
technology and teaching outside the boundaries of the
classroom, explains Jerry Voith, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, managing
principal at Leo A. Daly. The library was
"envisioned, designed and built as a 'Knowledge
Center,' expanding the traditional role of the
academic library to become the intellectual and social
heart of a new campus," Voith says.
The project broke ground in November 2008 and was opened
for the fall 2010 semester. The 95,370-square-foot, four-story
library stores up to 300,000 volumes for 10,000
undergraduate students. The facility includes an
Academic Enhancement Center, Center for Teaching
Excellence, a large multipurpose lecture room, a
quiet reading room, an archives area, 37 study rooms and
a café. The centerpiece of the library is the three-story
atrium that houses the Information Commons, an open study area
for individual or group study.
Challenges for the project included developing a
nontraditional program, highly functional exterior, adaptable
interior spaces and a fast-track delivery, says Brian Titus,
AIA, NCARB, director of design at Leo A. Daly.
Titus explains that metal panels are part of the campus
palate. "While strategic elements were placed on the exterior
envelope to tie the new structure to the metal features
present on the existing campus buildings, the metal
concept was brought inside as part of an
integrated design leading the project to read as a
unique entity," he says.
"Over the expected 50-year minimum lifetime of the library,
it will produce significant, long-term budgetary savings due
to its energy efficiencies," says Eddie Beauchamp, vice
president for facilities at GGC. "It will reduce the
college's carbon footprint and will provide a healthier
environment for students. As the 'Campus of Tomorrow,' it
only makes sense that GGC is committed to state-of-the-art
building design."
Sustainable Elements
- A 32 percent reduction in energy usage was achieved by
using an integrated design approach and strategy that
included high-efficiency lighting fixtures, windows
that saturated 75 percent of the interior spaces with
natural daylight, and efficient insulation
- Water usage was reduced by 40 percent compared to a
typical library through features such as high-efficiency
restroom fixtures and occupant sensors
- Drought-tolerant landscaping allows for more efficient use
of exterior water
- High indoor air quality
- Natural materials and finishes were used throughout.
- Features 2.5 percent environmentally focused products as
well as products with low off-gassing
Recycling Facts
- More than 95 percent of the construction waste was
diverted from landfills to local recycling facilities.
- Almost 95 percent of the reinforced steel used was
recycled from scrap cars.
- The drywall is made of 95 percent recycled content and is
a by-product of industrial waste material.
- All the wood ceilings in the building are fabricated from
97 percent recycled materials.
- More than 30 percent of the recycled content had been
originally used within a 500-mile radius of the site.
Located on a previously undeveloped site, the
project team had to take several measures to minimize the
clearance of the site and disturbance of the surrounding
area. Designing the library as four stories reduced
the building's footprint, while maximizing the
conservation of the existing natural terrain. This enabled
preserving twice the outdoor space to promote
biodiversity and provided a high ratio of open space to
development footprint.
Sunshades
Kawneer's custom 36-inch-deep 1600 SunShades were utilized to
shade the building's interiors and conserve energy.
Additionally, the sunshades easily integrate into Kawneer's 1600
Wall System 1 curtainwall, creating savings in fabrication and
attachment time.
Metal Panels
Alcoa Architectural Products supplied approximately 23,000
square feet of 4-mm Reynobond Aluminum Composite Material PE
panels that were used on the building exterior to provide
a clean and contemporary aesthetic, along with a flexible and
formable solution that helps meet or exceed building code
requirements. Additionally, the panels are lightweight and easy
to install, which helped address the project's aggressive
schedule.
Exterior Skin
The library's exterior skin is made up of cold-formed
metal framing from ClarkDieterich Building Systems, in
addition to sheathing, waterproofing membrane, brick,
storefront framing and metal panels.
Arch of Knowledge
The "Arch of Knowledge" serves as a portal to the campus
green.
Curtainwall
The focal point of the building is a 215-foot-long, 42-foot-tall
curtainwall on the north side of the library. The large wall
covers the main atrium, providing views to and from the campus
green, outdoor amphitheater and campus pathways. Kawneer's
1600 Wall System 1 and 1600 Wall System 2 curtainwall systems
fabricated with SOLARBAN 70XL STARPHIRE solar control, low-E
glass by PPG Industries, were used to increase daylight and
transparency.
Kawneer's Trifab VG (VersaGlaze) 450 framing system is used on
the interior, offering increased visability thoughout the
library, while the Trifab VG (VersaGlaze) 451T framing
system provides improved thermal performance.
Entrance
Kawneer's 350 Medium Stile Entrances withstand heavy
traffic flow.
"The solar orientation steered the design towards
an elongated building shape along the east-west axis with
the programming elements defining its 'L' shape. This
created a rather narrow footprint providing the maximum
perimeter edges for students and staff while saturating 75
percent of the spaces with daylight as well as exposing 90
percent of the space to exterior views."
Jerry Voith, managing principal, Leo A.
Daly
*Rion Rizzo (Creative Sources Photography Inc.)
Georgia Gwinnett College Library and Learning Center,
Lawrenceville, Ga.
Owner: The University System of Georgia/Board
of Regents
Architect: Leo A. Daly, Atlanta
General contractor: The Potts Co., Conyers,
Ga.
Civil engineer: Long Engineering Inc.,
Atlanta
Structural engineer: Walter P Moore,
Atlanta
Landscape architect: Doran & Karwoski Inc.,
Atlanta
Waterproofing and building envelope:
Williamson & Associates Inc., Atlanta
Glazing contractor: Glass Systems Inc.,
Lithonia, Ga.
ACM fabricator/installer:
Kistler-McDougall Corp., Woodstock, Ga.
ACM wall panels: Alcoa Architectural
Products, Eastman, Ga., www.alcoaarchitecturalproducts.com
Cold-formed metal framing and metal studs:
ClarkDieterich Building Systems, West Chester, Ohio, www.clarkdieterich.com
Curtainwall/sunshades: Kawneer Co. Inc.,
Norcross, Ga., www.kawneer.com
Curtainwall glass: PPG Industries,
Pittsburgh, www.ppgideascapes.com