A transformed Midtown Manhattan library building, long considered to be an eyesore, is finally open to the public after the Covid-19 pandemic and a $200 million renovation project left its doors shuttered for four years.

Renamed the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, what used to be the New York Public Library’s Mid-Manhattan branch, the facility sits on a corner of Fifth Avenue opposite the library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in a former department store. According to the 126-year-old institution, the SASB sees a system-topping 1.7 million visitors a year.

Beyer Blinder Belle teamed with acclaimed library restorationist Francine Houben of the Dutch firm Mecanoo to completely overhaul all eight floors of the Bryant Park building thanks in part to a $55 million grant from the Niarchos Foundation. 

The resulting 20,000 square feet of added space come in the form of expanded reading areas separated on three floors by a linear atrium, new adult learning and business centers, a lower-level children and teens center, improved seating, and a publicly accessible roof terrace that features a café and garden tailor-made for get-togethers and public programming. 

Both parties were able to accomplish this while retaining three-quarters of the building’s original structure and envelope. The pandemic-extended closure also allowed the architects to clean the building’s limestone facade in addition to mitigating its carbon footprint and upgrading systems as part of an overall push by the design team to extend the life of the century-old structure through refurbishment and modernization. 

“Libraries have always made knowledge accessible,” Houben said in a statement. “That hasn’t changed in 100 years. How knowledge is maintained and formatted, that has changed. So the Library needs to be able to adapt, or else it has a shelf life.”

The reopening of the branch comes at an opportune time for the embattled city, which was severely impacted by the closure of its public library system, something NYPL President Anthony Marx sees as a critical function embodied in the design and features of its newest space.

“As the City moves forward and works to recover and revitalize following a dark chapter, it is absolutely critical that its public social infrastructure be as strong as possible,” he said. “Especially places like public libraries, open to all and offering the tools needed to help strengthen individuals and communities. The [new building] stands as a symbol of opportunity for all and resilience, as well as an example of what can happen for the people of a city when that dedication to education, growth, and community exists."

Reimagining the New York Public Library: Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. Video via Mecanoo on YouTube.