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Northfield Public Library
Northfield Public Library
Northfield, MN, United States
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Northfield Public Library
Northfield, MN, United States
The community of Northfield, Minnesota, has been called a “City of Readers,” as 90 percent of residents have a library card. But for more than 30 years, they’ve made do with a small brick 1910 Carnegie library expanded in 1984 with a brick addition. In May, a reconfigured Northfield Public Library designed by RoehrSchmitt Architecture opens with a new 2,000-square-foot, two-story glass entrance commons illuminating the changes within. The library’s new entrance commons, a “lantern” or “beacon” for the downtown area, also sheds light on the importance of libraries as community gathering places in the 21st century, and sets a precedent for 21st additions to historic public buildings.
“The library is a popular destination in Northfield, with more than 600 visitors a day,” says Teresa Jensen, Director of Library and IT Services, City of Northfield. “But today’s patron uses the library differently than they did 10 years ago. The challenge was not to simply add square footage to the existing library, but
to enhance the quality and usability of the building for patrons of all ages and
RoehrSchmitt 2
abilities. We needed our library to be more flexible, accessible and open, with engaging spaces for meeting, learning and gathering.”
With one big move, RoehrSchmitt (in collaboration with Rothholz Architecture and Design) re-envisioned the library. The architects demolished a stair in the middle of the 1984 addition, which allowed them to reorganize and clarify the interior with more open space, better flow and enhanced daylighting. To make the library more welcoming and transparent, they designed a glass entrance commons that also serves as a reading room and community gathering space. In the entrance commons, a new stairway leads to a new glass-enclosed mezzanine.
“Prior to our intervention, the library was rather closed in and inwardly focused,” explains Chris Schmitt, principal. During an extensive process of community engagement, which included numerous meetings and workshops with dedicated library users, “we learned the community wanted a lantern on the street, a crossroads where everyone could meet. That led to the glass box as not only an entrance but also a commons area, which would help illuminate the interior spaces.”
The cube-shaped glass entrance commons also allowed the architects to highlight the original Carnegie building. “From the street, you can see through the glass entrance commons to the Carnegie and its original exterior brick façade,” Jensen says. “The glass entrance commons is a wonderful feature that highlights the original library structure, and makes our library the positive face of the City of Northfield.”
An Essay on Historic Preservation
The Northfield Public Library’s 1910 Georgian Revival-style Carnegie building, which sits on a small hill overlooking Division Street, is within Northfield’s Downtown Historic District. In 1985, an 8,000-square-foot addition was designed to blend with the original structure. With the addition of RoehrSchmitt’s new glass entrance, which faces east, the library “is an essay in changing attitudes toward historical preservation,” says Michael Roehr, principal.
RoehrSchmitt 3
“In 1984, to be contextual and respectful meant blending the old with the new,” Roehr explains. Federal guidelines for historic preservation now mandate that new structures “are distinct, and recognize and acknowledge the existing structure.” RoehrSchmitt placed the new clear-glass entrance commons at the intersection of the original 1910 library and the 1984 addition, to separate the existing structures and frame the original Carnegie building. A transparent box shaded by mature trees, the entrance commons “exists to be minimally present, referring to and clarifying the past while unabashedly pointing to the future,” Roehr says.
Between the glass entrance commons and the library’s existing brick walls RoehrSchmitt inserted a third material: charcoal-grey zinc panels pleated to resemble the unevenly cut pages of deckle-edged books. The zinc panels recede along the roofline to increase the prominence of the existing buildings, and “cushion and mediate the relationship between the glass and the brick,” Roehr says, “while referencing the physicality of books—a nice reminder in an age of electronic media. Zinc is also a legacy material that changes in appearance over time. So inserting the zinc was both a practical and poetic idea.”
The glass entrance commons has lounge seating and tables and chairs near periodical racks with current newspapers and magazines. Well-integrated window shades provide any necessary relief from the sun. A new sound system allows the library to hold author readings, music programs and other community events in the commons. A new stairway inside the entrance commons leads to the second-floor mezzanine. With its terrazzo plinth and steel stairs and rails, the modern stairway provides the glass cube with a practical and engaging sculptural element.
The glassed-in mezzanine on the second level includes a periodical room with expansive views of the downtown neighborhood. “The addition of the glass entrance commons, a small concentrated gesture with big community impact, demonstrates how the library has been reborn as a modern facility that’s responsive
to a diverse population—without spending a lot of money on the exterior,” Schmitt says.
RoehrSchmitt 4
A Civic Sense of Place
By removing the existing interior staircase on the southeast side of the 1984 addition, RoehrSchmitt was able to add the glass entrance commons and stair to the mezzanine, as well as reconfigure and improve the library’s interior spaces. The architects created accessible code-compliant restrooms and wider aisles, doubled the size of the children’s area, programmed space for additional computers, and created three meeting or community rooms.
On the second level, a wall of the Carnegie building had been covered with Sheetrock: The architects excavated the original wall to feature its existing millwork and original brick. High-efficiency mechanical systems and new fire- and life-safety systems were installed. Lighting throughout the library was modernized with LED fixtures, and direct and indirect lighting was designed to enhance reading, shelving and other library tasks.
The architects leveled and enlarged the main landing platform of the library’s outdoor reading porch to make the porch more inviting. A wall along Division Street added in 1984, which blocked street views of the library, was resized to grade and new railings were added. A patio area was re-landscaped reconnected to Division Street and now provides the library with a new programmable outdoor space. Steep walkways that iced over in winter due to poor drainage were re-graded for safety and accessibility.
“Of course a cinder-block building would suffice for checking out books and using computers,” says Teresa Jensen. “But in the 21st century, as Northfield’s population continues to grow and diversify, the library’s renovation—and the graceful design of the glass entrance commons—gives our city a tremendous sense of civic pride. I think it is part of a city’s function to provide that kind of civic sense of place. The new library will do that.”
“The library is a popular destination in Northfield, with more than 600 visitors a day,” says Teresa Jensen, Director of Library and IT Services, City of Northfield. “But today’s patron uses the library differently than they did 10 years ago. The challenge was not to simply add square footage to the existing library, but
to enhance the quality and usability of the building for patrons of all ages and
RoehrSchmitt 2
abilities. We needed our library to be more flexible, accessible and open, with engaging spaces for meeting, learning and gathering.”
With one big move, RoehrSchmitt (in collaboration with Rothholz Architecture and Design) re-envisioned the library. The architects demolished a stair in the middle of the 1984 addition, which allowed them to reorganize and clarify the interior with more open space, better flow and enhanced daylighting. To make the library more welcoming and transparent, they designed a glass entrance commons that also serves as a reading room and community gathering space. In the entrance commons, a new stairway leads to a new glass-enclosed mezzanine.
“Prior to our intervention, the library was rather closed in and inwardly focused,” explains Chris Schmitt, principal. During an extensive process of community engagement, which included numerous meetings and workshops with dedicated library users, “we learned the community wanted a lantern on the street, a crossroads where everyone could meet. That led to the glass box as not only an entrance but also a commons area, which would help illuminate the interior spaces.”
The cube-shaped glass entrance commons also allowed the architects to highlight the original Carnegie building. “From the street, you can see through the glass entrance commons to the Carnegie and its original exterior brick façade,” Jensen says. “The glass entrance commons is a wonderful feature that highlights the original library structure, and makes our library the positive face of the City of Northfield.”
An Essay on Historic Preservation
The Northfield Public Library’s 1910 Georgian Revival-style Carnegie building, which sits on a small hill overlooking Division Street, is within Northfield’s Downtown Historic District. In 1985, an 8,000-square-foot addition was designed to blend with the original structure. With the addition of RoehrSchmitt’s new glass entrance, which faces east, the library “is an essay in changing attitudes toward historical preservation,” says Michael Roehr, principal.
RoehrSchmitt 3
“In 1984, to be contextual and respectful meant blending the old with the new,” Roehr explains. Federal guidelines for historic preservation now mandate that new structures “are distinct, and recognize and acknowledge the existing structure.” RoehrSchmitt placed the new clear-glass entrance commons at the intersection of the original 1910 library and the 1984 addition, to separate the existing structures and frame the original Carnegie building. A transparent box shaded by mature trees, the entrance commons “exists to be minimally present, referring to and clarifying the past while unabashedly pointing to the future,” Roehr says.
Between the glass entrance commons and the library’s existing brick walls RoehrSchmitt inserted a third material: charcoal-grey zinc panels pleated to resemble the unevenly cut pages of deckle-edged books. The zinc panels recede along the roofline to increase the prominence of the existing buildings, and “cushion and mediate the relationship between the glass and the brick,” Roehr says, “while referencing the physicality of books—a nice reminder in an age of electronic media. Zinc is also a legacy material that changes in appearance over time. So inserting the zinc was both a practical and poetic idea.”
The glass entrance commons has lounge seating and tables and chairs near periodical racks with current newspapers and magazines. Well-integrated window shades provide any necessary relief from the sun. A new sound system allows the library to hold author readings, music programs and other community events in the commons. A new stairway inside the entrance commons leads to the second-floor mezzanine. With its terrazzo plinth and steel stairs and rails, the modern stairway provides the glass cube with a practical and engaging sculptural element.
The glassed-in mezzanine on the second level includes a periodical room with expansive views of the downtown neighborhood. “The addition of the glass entrance commons, a small concentrated gesture with big community impact, demonstrates how the library has been reborn as a modern facility that’s responsive
to a diverse population—without spending a lot of money on the exterior,” Schmitt says.
RoehrSchmitt 4
A Civic Sense of Place
By removing the existing interior staircase on the southeast side of the 1984 addition, RoehrSchmitt was able to add the glass entrance commons and stair to the mezzanine, as well as reconfigure and improve the library’s interior spaces. The architects created accessible code-compliant restrooms and wider aisles, doubled the size of the children’s area, programmed space for additional computers, and created three meeting or community rooms.
On the second level, a wall of the Carnegie building had been covered with Sheetrock: The architects excavated the original wall to feature its existing millwork and original brick. High-efficiency mechanical systems and new fire- and life-safety systems were installed. Lighting throughout the library was modernized with LED fixtures, and direct and indirect lighting was designed to enhance reading, shelving and other library tasks.
The architects leveled and enlarged the main landing platform of the library’s outdoor reading porch to make the porch more inviting. A wall along Division Street added in 1984, which blocked street views of the library, was resized to grade and new railings were added. A patio area was re-landscaped reconnected to Division Street and now provides the library with a new programmable outdoor space. Steep walkways that iced over in winter due to poor drainage were re-graded for safety and accessibility.
“Of course a cinder-block building would suffice for checking out books and using computers,” says Teresa Jensen. “But in the 21st century, as Northfield’s population continues to grow and diversify, the library’s renovation—and the graceful design of the glass entrance commons—gives our city a tremendous sense of civic pride. I think it is part of a city’s function to provide that kind of civic sense of place. The new library will do that.”
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