ASID LA DESIGN: New West Hollywood Library

Red, White and Green: West Hollywood Library
by: Sarah Barnard "Green Editor"
From ASID's LA Design Magazine Summer 2011

“A civil society requires excellence in civic architecture - and it is our opinion that such an aspiration is itself avant-garde” – Steve Johnson, Principal at Johnson Favaro Architecture & Urban Design

Next to City Hall and police & fire stations, the local library is a part of every great American city. It is a place to come together, to exchange knowledge and history, in short, a place to interact as a community. The soon to be completed West Hollywood Public Library is meeting the needs of the community and doing it with a LEED Silver Rating.

As with any civic improvement, the benefits to the community were an important part of this project. Over a five year period, the City of West Hollywood conducted a community needs assessment to obtain residents’ input on a proposed new library, part of a larger project of capitol improvements to honor the city’s 25th anniversary. The result of the assessment was a strong community need for “a better functioning, larger, and more technologically advanced library.” 1

Since the new library complex was to be sited in the middle of the Avenues of Fashion and Design, an innovative and forward looking plan had to be created. “The building is neither ‘modern’ nor ‘traditional’” says Steve Johnson, Principal at Johnson Favaro Architecture & Urban Design. “It neither waxes nostalgic about yesterday nor pretends to determine a future over which we have no control.” His firm designed the three-story, environmentally responsible building, incorporating many of the recommendations from the community assessment:

Addressing Community Needs – There were numerous concerns with the original library, which was built in 1959 and not remodeled. It has 3 tables and a 9 person “reading lounge” for the 36,000 residents of the city; half of the audio-visual collection is currently housed in a storage unit behind the actual library building; inadequate space for children’s story hours, community events and author readings. The new library has remedied these, and other, concerns by including program and exhibit spaces, a children’s theater, a career center, an expanded HIV Information Center, a new City Council chamber and special collections for the LGBT and Russian communities that reside within the city’s borders.

Expanded Space – The new Library building is 6 times larger than the old one, increasing the square footage from 5,200 to over 32,000! It also provides over 500 parking spaces, an additional 2.5 acres of new green space for the city and an open air court linking the indoor and outdoor areas. “The site of the existing library will be transformed into new park land,” Johnson notes. “What was 1½ acres of core park space in West Hollywood Park will be transformed into 5 acres of park land”

Much Needed Technology – The new Library will have 40 new internet-equipped computers, Wi-Fi available to visitors and a video conferencing room. It will also incorporate many Green features including photovoltaic panels and optimized energy performance systems for lighting, heating and ventilation.

The City of West Hollywood’s eco-friendly building standards required an emphasis on sustainability within the project. To meet these standards, rooftop photovoltaic panels, a vegetative roof on the parking garage, locally-produced and renewable materials (90% of the wood used came from renewable sources) were used. Combined, these elements all added to the LEED Silver rating given to the project. Asked about the Green features of the structure, Johnson says, “We are most proud that during most every hour of the day, you can read the page of your book or I-pad anywhere in the library by the natural light of day without one artificial light fixture turned on.” Visitors will also marvel under the 14,000-sq-ft bamboo-carved ceiling on the third floor, resembling “flowers on a vine”

Americana is more than knowing where we came from and feeling nostalgic because of it. It is also about looking forward and seeing how we can achieve something which generations to come will be proud to call their own. By listening to the community and applying sustainable techniques and materials to the project, the West Hollywood Library will be a building that the entire community will be able to call their own for generations to come.

For more information on the West Hollywood Library Park Project, visit http://www.weholibraryfund.org/

For more information on Johnson Favaro Architecture & Urban Design, visit http://www.johnsonfavaro.com/

http://weholibraryfund.org/about/faq

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SARAH BARNARD is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), is certified by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), and is recognized by the International Institute for Bau-Biologie & Ecology as a Building Biology Practitioner (BBP)and by the United States Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP).She serves on the Santa Monica Conservancy’s board of directors and specializes in green interior design and historic preservation. For more information about Sarah and her practice visit http://www.sarahbarnard.com/