Pfeiffer Partners had the opportunity to both renovate 160,700 sf of the 320,000 sf existing Davidson Library at UCSB and add 59,900 sf of collaborative student spaces. Implementing the Pfeiffer prepared Detailed Project Program, the renewed library has already achieved UCSB’s goal of “reinventing the library’s role as the student hub on campus”. The renovation and expansion has quickly transformed the library from a facility that housed the University’s large print collection to a place for students, focusing on research, learning, collaboration, socialization and knowledge creation. The result is a highly user-friendly layout, and a unified architectural character. New infrastructure seamlessly supports the needs of the building, including the numerous additions that have occurred somewhat randomly over the more than five decades (1926-1978) since the library was initially opened. The library provides new instructional spaces, group study rooms, seminar rooms and expanded open reading areas, as well as an interactive instruction lab, a digital media center, an indoor/outdoor cafe, special collections and a faculty development center. The new exterior plaza combined with the paseo lobby traversing the building east/west, redefine public space on campus, reconnecting the University’s expanding east and west quadrangles.
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