Kolbe presents 3-inch stiles as a new option for folding doors
by Jonathan McGaha | October 25, 2010 12:00 am
Located in northwest San Antonio, the John Igo Branch Library is designed to preserve the natural landscape and history of the land. Completed in 2007, the 15,500-square-foot (1,440-m2) library is nestled in the center of a 24-acre (10-hectare) park where it is almost hidden from the main road. Parking fl ows through and around natural clusters of trees and grasses, allowing visitors to explore the landscape as they approach the entry.
A 40-foot- (12-m-) tall windmill greets visitors and acts as a gathering area. The non-traditional hybrid windmill has custom-designed blades and collects the intermittent wind source through a wind generator to provide supplemental power to a small water circulation pump, allowing the water to flow down a channel, through the building and to a water basin. The turbine sits on a base designed by well-known artist James Hetherington, which was fabricated by Alamo Iron Works, San Antonio, and erected in one piece.
The channel is paired with a 120-foot (37-m) window wall from Kawneer, Norcross, Ga., that runs along the building, allowing visitors to maintain a connection to the library even from the outside. It also creates a linear north-south axis with the windmill and heritage oak acting as signifiers that anchor the two endpoints.
The library incorporates several energy-efficient features, including high-performance 1-inch (25- mm) Solarban 80 (2) Low-E insulated glass from Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries, large overhangs and decorative metal solar awnings. Additionally, the inside features carpeting, carpet backing, toilet partitions and tackable wall surfaces that incorporate 10 to 62 percent recycled materials.
The tower entry acts as a control point separating the library from the community meeting rooms. This allows for the use of the meeting rooms during nonlibrary hours, while maintaining the sense of entry for all. The main circulation desk divides the library into two separate column-free spaces, each of which provide visual connections between the windmill and heritage oak from almost any location in the library.
Visitors are led to the live heritage oak by a pathway. An oak canopy provides a natural exterior reading enclosure that allows for multiple areas where patrons may read alone or gather in small groups. The original smokehouse from the previous farm now stands as a historical artifact and a backdrop to the preservation of land and history.
Columbus, Miss.-based Ceco Building Systems manufactured the metal building, while Houston based MBCI supplied the metal roof and walls for the project. Approximately 12,000 square feet (1,115 m2) of MBCI’s Batten-Lok roof system in a Signature 300 Colonial Red were used in addition to MBCI’s 7.2 wall system on standard metal wall girts, also in a matching Signature 300 color finish. Designed by RVK Architects, San Antonio, the library looks like an abstract barn to help accompany the area and its environment.
The Library received the 2008 Mayors Choice Award from the San Antonio chapter of the AIA. F.A. Nunnelly, San Antonio, was the general contractor.
Ceco Building Systems
Kawneer
MBCI
PPG Industries
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/library-aims-to-preserve-natural-landscape-and-history-of-land/