Rebuilding Walker Library – update
Community, Featured — By Thatcher Imboden on March 4, 2011 9:08 amOn Tuesday, March 1, the Walker Library Community Advisory Committee (CAC) met with Hennepin County staff and the project’s architect, Vincent James Associates Architects (VJAA) to go over the pre-design findings for building a new Walker Library. The new Walker Library will replace the current library on the northwest corner of Lagoon Avenue and Hennepin Avenue. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2012.
As a part of the pre-design process, VJAA looked at how potential existing infrastructure at the library could be utilized in a new library. They concluded that of the existing library, the exterior walls should be able to be reused as a soil retention system, which will reduce demolition and earthwork costs for the new library. An added benefit is that less noise will be created since they won’t have to sheet pile. The existing floors do not seem to be reusable for underground parking or storage, so they would go.
In looking at how the future 15,000 to 20,000 square foot building could be built on the 20,545 square foot site, VJAA believe that the orientation to pursue would be a large single level library that has a two-story presence (think a large cubic space with one level) with one level of underground parking (more on that soon).
Building Orientation
In analyzing the site, VJAA learned that there is a non-vacated alley between the library and apartments to the west. The alley right now is really a strip of grass and trees and utility poles. So one option is to vacate the alley and provide half the land to the library and the other half to the apartment buildings. This would allow easier conformance with zoning codes about how far various components of the building must be set back off of the property line.
VJAA conducted a zoning analysis, which determined that if they accepted the site as is and followed the zoning ordinances without seeking variances, the building would have a footprint of 14,800 square feet and have 2,000 additional square feet in the basement for mechanical equipment and such. The building would also require a strange carve out in the northeast corner due to setback requirements. If the alley is vacated and the northeast corner set backs were removed, the building may have a footprint closer to 15,500 square feet. One item that VJAA mentioned is that they may want to set the building back up to 20 feet from the Hennepin sidewalk to address some grade issues as well as create a plaza space.
The main doors to the building haven’t been determined and will be informed in part by programming needs within the library and grades. VJAA referenced that the CAC and others had talked a lot about how to better connect with the north side of the site, so one option is to locate the doors to the library there. However, they also recognized that there is a desire to ensure a strong connection towards Lagoon. One option would be to locate the doors in the middle of the Hennepin side and utilize a front plaza to help draw people in from both sides. The largest constraint it sounds is the grade change at the site, with a 4.5′ drop from north to south and a 2.5′ drop from east to west. As a result, the building’s floor level inside will be higher or lower than the sidewalk at some point around the building.
Parking / Access
VJAA is proposing a single entry drive lane from Lagoon Avenue at the west side of the site that runs north to exit on to the Mall, which would provide access to the underground parking garage. They preferred this over a two-way in-and-out onto Lagoon because of its negative impacts on the square footage of the available first floor for the library as well as for easier waste hauling, as the garage would otherwise have to higher clearance height and likely would necessitate garbage and recycling trucks to back out over the sidewalk and onto Lagoon.
Parking at the site will be difficult and costly to construct because the site’s size creates inefficient floor plates. VJAA and Hennepin County polled the library patrons and employees last fall to understand how people come to the library. After factoring that in along with the projected ways that people will reach the library, they concluded that they will want to have approximately 27 stalls of parking with 23 of them for patrons and the others for staff. The intent, though nothing is finalized, is to have the parking dedicated to library patrons but that they’ll use an automated pay system to accomplish that by somehow offering a discount or validation type of service for those using the service.
Significantly more bike parking would be provided.
Sustainability
VJAA said that the focus of the new library’s sustainability efforts would be on value and efficiency, and that they will use more passive strategies than expensive high-tech solutions. For example, they will use passive solar to try and daylight the library to reduce the amount of lighting required to operate as opposed to installing a solar power farm.
So their preliminary thoughts included:
- use local, renewable and recycled materials
- under-floor air distribution
- additional insulation in the building envelope and good glazing (glass)
- below grade cistern for storm water
- flexible space so that the library can adapt to future needs
- reuse existing structure, where possible
- advanced lighting (I’m assuming that means dimmers, stepped lighting, etc)
- high efficiency HVAC
Next Steps
VJAA will share with the CAC some preliminary designs in May and there will be some sort of public engagement around that time as well.
Thatcher Imboden
How cities work and change, how they are the product of their inhabitants and outside forces, and the resulting livability keep me thinking and dreaming about the future. I work in urban real estate development, am Past President of an Uptown business organization, grew up in Uptown, was on an Uptown neighborhood association Board, and am an Uptown and Lyn-Lake historian.
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8 Comments
Usually, passive solar refers to heating, not to lighting. Does VJAA have expertise in high efficiency building practices?
I hope the passive solar will be used to heat the building in the winter, that passive strategies will be used to cool in the summer, and that daylighting will be incorporated.
it would have been nice to see a 2-storey building that goes right up to the curb, or something more similar to the east lake library
Any information about the side of the library facing the greenway? I know there was talk from the greenway coalition about a plaza along the greenway with an entrance to the library along the greenway (the basement level of the library I suppose). The idea being that this plaza could also be used as a community space around a future street-car stop. It seems that there would need to be a radical shortening and excavation of the mall park area to make this happen. Did they mention this idea, or is it off the table?
Also, did they mention incorporating any additional programs into the library space; such as a coffee shop, cafe, lecture hall or theater..etc.?
They didn’t talk about the internal operations of the library at this meeting. If I’m not mistaken, the concept is for a library and some meeting rooms, not a coffee shop. Too bad, as a mixed-use component would be nice. But it’s not to say it hasn’t been ruled out.
As for the north side of the library, they said they’ve heard that there’s interest in creating a better connection to the Uptown Transit Station, the Mall, and the Midtown Greenway. They are meeting with the MPRB to discuss that improvement but I perceive concern on their end with the magnitude of the cost to make any huge changes as well as the political and community dialogue associated with that sort of change. Tim Springer of the Midtown Greenway Coalition did bring it up again at the meeting.
Personally, I don’t see it happening. I think the concept would need to come from MGC at this point and be able to sell all the parties on how the Mall could retain its connection to Hennepin in any meaningful way and also create a better vertical connection / plaza to the Greenway at Hennepin. I could potentially see a portion of the south wall of the Midtown Greenway wall removed and pulled back towards the library with some sort of terracing and stairs and space set aside for a future elevator connection to the Uptown Transit Station, but I don’t see a need to have a Greenway-level entry to the library given that there are fairly easy connections to the Greenway at that location.
I’d prefer to see improvements to the Mall so that the space is more functional. If the library incorporates a coffee shop or other use opening onto Hennepin by Lagoon, then I’d be okay with the library opening closer to the north side of the site, but I think the entrance focusing on the north side while leaving out the south side is turning its back on the core of the business district. That’s why I lean towards a center entry on Hennepin and try to create some meaningful and functional space for the public on that grassy space between the Greenway and the library. Perhaps a small play area that’s also public art (think interactive urban furniture great for kids and adults), flower beds, ornamental trees, benches, seating ledges, etc.
Good point, I think there is a huge missed opportunity that there isn’y a better park space connecting Greenway, Mall, Hennepin and Transit Station. The most prominent feature of the mall entrance on Hennepin is a large metal signal box and newspaper stands! The whole area needs to be looked at with the new library coming and not just divided into separate library land/parkland/greenway spaces — they all need to work together to create a key uptown public space. I don’t think there needs to be a radical solution, but a re-design of the park-space and the greenway should be taken in tandem with the library design to have a functional community space at this intersection. I just hope the parties will get together to make something happen beyond the walls of a new building.
I definitely would be behind the idea of something incorporating play space; when we lived in San Francisco our local (newly renovated) had a mini-playground just outside the entrance. It was great; we’d combine a library trip with some time on the slides, and everyone won. It helped it to feel like even more of a community center, and with the various benches and other seating it was a pleasant place for both those with and without kids.
A design that leaves space for a potential future entry from the Greenway makes sense, but if for now there is only to be one primary entrance, then I would agree that it needs to be on Hennepin. I also agree that I hope that sufficient attention will be paid to integrating the building into the setting as a whole. It certainly presents an exciting opportunity.
It would be very nice to see some low-income housing built over the library like in the Rondo Library on University Avenue in St. Paul. Considering there are a lot of jobs in the area, and also that the library is right next to one of the busiest bus stops in the city. I think adding housing there wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I imagine most of those people would rather take the bus than drive a car considering how close they would be to the bus station and then it wouldn’t add anymore to the parking problem.