Image: The new library's latest look. Courtesy of Montgomery County department of general services.
There was once a dream that was Rome — er, I mean downtown Silver Spring’s new library. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper, and the librarian would shush you.
But after a couple of public meetings on how things will gel on the corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street, the whisper is growing into an audible voice — one talking about zero escalators and a sweet rooftop garden.
The project’s architects decided to swing for no escalators, feeling that elevators traveling from the building’s ground-floor entrance to the third-floor library would eat less footprint. That way, library floors would have more square footage, and the street-level public space would have more usefulness, architect Gregory Lukmire explained to area residents at a public meeting last month.
Claustrophobic? Stairs will connect the library’s floors for those who don’t like elevators, and a staircase might connect the library with the street, Lukmire said.
The payoff for all that stair climbing could be a rooftop garden and adjacent public meeting room on the seventh floor. The topper signalled an evolutionary leap in the building’s design, which originally put air conditioning and other mechanical shit on the top floor and quashed thoughts of a functional green roof.
“This could be one of the more spectacular rooms in Silver Spring,” Lukmire declared.
Designing the building has had its ups and downs. First, requests from the public packed the building with all kinds of stuff, from that green roof and meeting room, to a ground-floor coffee shop, to an art gallery and exhibit space. On top of that, the lot must share space with a future residential building and possibly a Purple Line station.
Image: People threw stones at this glass house. Courtesy of Montgomery County department of general services.
Next, there was how the building would look. Early models had it decked out with glass, glass and more glass (left). Endless windows would allow the library’s interior to merge with the Fenton Village exterior, the architects felt. But vocal opponents thought the look was a post-modern monstrosity that didn’t fit with either Fenton Village’s shorter stature, or Downtown Silver Spring’s glam.
Architects took a second stab at design, and in June they came up with a little less glass and a little more not glass (possibly precut concrete; above). The design inches its way towards completion Thursday night at the last public meeting on the matter. That goes down at ye olde library at 7:00 p.m.
One square peg remains to be squeezed into a round hole: the footbridge connecting the new library with the Wayne Avenue garage. All designs so far have included the bridge, but the county council has yet to decide whether to allow the bridge’s construction.
The council’s planning and human services committees take up that issue on Jul 21, 2009.
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“a staircase MIGHT connect the library with the street”?
Might? Otherwise, what? Only elevator access?
I hate to further nitpick this plan, but have they forgotten that some of us will be trying to get to the library from, like, the sidewalk in front of the library?
Sincerely,
Hates Elevators
Yep, they’re talking about elevator access only.
Why doesn’t someone ask, “if we can’t afford our golf course, how can we pay for an ‘optional’ footbridge??
I can’t believe we could end up with a footbridge from the parking lot and not a staircase from the street. I had managed to talk myself into a place where this whole thing was an amusing mess, but now my mind is completely blown.
We should have just kept the old apartment building on that site and put a bunch of books in it. The apartment numbers could be Dewey Decimal.
Here here – love the rooftop garden idea (which is diff than a “green roof” BTW). But HATE the idea of elevator and bridge-only access. WTF? Has common-sense left the county? Wish I could chime it at tonight’s meeting, but I’m over in Chevy Chase for another event.
Wouldn’t stairs be cheaper than a whole bunch of elevators? I know you need at least one for handicapped access, but if you have to put in enough to handle all the traffic, it’s going to get expensive.
A wide, open, attractive staircase that extends one floor. Really–is that too much to ask?
I wonder if the architects considered a spiral staircase. It takes up less space and works when the elevators don’t. The spiral staircase inside Silver Spring’s (new) firehouse is an example.
If the elevators are not operational for any reason, does this mean that the only way to get into the library is through the proposed pedestrian bridge? Is this the architect’s sneaky way of justifying the building of the pedestrian bridge? Also, if there happens to be a fire in the library, does this mean that the only exit is through the pedestrian bridge (remember- you can’t use the elevators during a fire)? What if the fire is blocking access to the pedestrian bridge? Is one toast at that point?
tj’s post raises the question of whether this new library would be a good place to hide from the zombie apocalypse. Can zombies use elevators? Does easy to block access make up for the lack of escape routes?
According to the architects, stairs will be available in case of fire. But I got the impression that they wouldn’t be accessible to people who just prefer to climb stairs, or if the elevators were undergoing repair.
As far as the library being zombie-proof, I don’t know. The fact that the library will be on the third floor suggests some refuge. The neighborhood bunnies sure would appreciate it.
With the proposed addition of the rooftop garden, this would make a great place to hide from the zombies- no need to go out scrounging for food!
Of course the glass modern version would have been poo-pooed *sigh* I don’t understand how a building could nix stairs… Sounds absolutely stupid, I always go for the stairs rather than escalators or elevators… Who’s the genius in charge of this project?
I think eventually the zombies might operate the elevator accidentally simply by repeatedly bumping into the buttons.
At the meeting last night, it seemed apparent that for the Fenton entrance there wouldn’t be elevator(s) without stairs “for people who like stairs” – thank you! Opinion though seemed to be moving back to the escalator as part of the most attractive entrance from Fenton as possible. They even mentioned solar on the Fenton facing glass. Quite exciting how this could turn out, although sorry folks, zombie proof not…
I think this would be a great spot to weather the inevitable zombie attack; however, is there any doubt that the zombies will come before this thing is actual built?
Creepy thought of the day: zombie librarians who slink quietly among the stacks, sneaking up on unsuspecting library patrons and then chomping down on their newly enriched, knowledge-powered brains.
Think about it. Creepy, right?
Not as scary as the librarian in Ghostbusters.
What’s wrong with glass? Tell me exactly. We have other all-glass exteriors in downtown Silver Spring, and what about the post-modern United Therapeutics building. Our library should make an architectural statement, not get covered in precast concrete.