For this major new branch library built around an existing structure, we wanted to create a building whose physical presence would be a source of pride for the Kew Gardens Hills community and whose functional upgrades would guarantee the library’s growing importance. Since opening, the library has served more than 500 visitors a day.

The core of stacks and service spaces is wrapped by a band of bright, open rooms. A green roof controls runoff and, visible from the street, becomes a neighborhood feature. The facade, a structural beam highlighted with rippling glass and fiber-reinforced concrete, rises to broadcast the library’s activities to the outside. At the site’s main corner, the library reaches a monumental scale appropriate for its civic status, while a smaller peak marking the kids’ corner provides child-size views to the south.