Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects

Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Windows, FacadeKirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Table, Shelving, Chair, WindowsKirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Facade, WindowsKirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Facade, GardenKirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - More Images+ 7

New Castle, United States
  • Architects: ikon.5 architects
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  22500 ft²
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2009
  • Photographs
    Photographs:James D'Addio
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  3form, Benjamin Moore, Icestone, JEB, James Hardie, Kawneer, Mecho Systems, Wolf Gordon

Text description provided by the architects. Set along a commercial shopping strip highway, Kirkwood Public Library is designed as a roadside billboard announcing the public civic function of reading, learning, and exploration. Architecture firm ikon.5 architects, had the opportunity to create a new branch library for a growing diverse community in an accessible area that would serve as the iconic community center of the neighborhood.

Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Windows, Facade
© James D'Addio

Shopping malls and fast food restaurants flank both sides of the site. Large graphic signs litter the highway where this library is sited and a small scale residential neighborhood is set one block in from the highway site. Within this context, Kirkwood Public Library appears as a collection of books set on the highway for the community to use.

Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Fence, Garden
© James D'Addio

Facing the highway, the building facade of stacked horizontal cement board siding is fashioned as a series of boxes that represent the edge of books piled up on their side. The result of abstract geometric forms, effectively illustrates the building and its function to the community along the stark commercial environment.

Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Windows, Facade
© James D'Addio

Adjacent to the residential neighborhood, a double height canopy cantilevers from the facade like a page of a book, providing shelter to the front door. At the western end of the site, a main glazed two story reading room is covered in a cedar solar screen. The screen permits desirable views out while controlling solar gain and day light harvesting. Internally, the program is arranged along the length of the highway to increase visibility and to shelter the entry side from traffic.

Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects - Chair, Windows
© James D'Addio

The Kirkwood Public Library integrates environmentally friendly, high performance green elements. The greatest use of energy in a library is heating ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting. Crucial steps were taken to reduce energy consumption, water consumption, and volatile organic compositions in materials.

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Project location

Address:New Castle County RPA Comm, New Castle, DE 19720, USA

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Kirkwood Public Library / ikon.5 architects" 23 Aug 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/159326/kirkwood-public-library-ikon-5-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

© James D'Addio

Kirkwood 公共图书馆 / ikon.5 architects

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