As part of NYC’s Design Excellence program, R+L is redesigning this 19,000sf McKim, Mead, and White designed branch library in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. The project creates a new contemporary identity that foregrounds a new open stair that unites the four main floors of the branch. An internal entry ramp and elevator creates a fully accessible and LEED certified interior environment, furthering the NYPL’s mission to provide broad access to information, to offer special programs, and to provide a nurturing environment for teens and young children. 

Andrew Carnegie’s 1901 gift to NYPL of over 60 neighborhood branches transformed the idea of the library. With this project, R+L develops a new paradigm for the renovation of these simple and powerful buildings by recovering its spatial and organizational strength, and by amplifying its extraordinary character through the insertion of vibrant, contemporary architectural and programmatic elements which provide increased functionality and technology to support modern library functions.

Karl Larson, project manager
Benjamin Cadena, project architect