Page 41 - Fall 2019

West End Library entry area and circulation desk. Photo © Ron Ngiam

Main entrance to the library. Photo © Ron Ngiam Main reading room. Photo © Ron Ngiam
Chapter Design Award in Interior Architecture buildings and hotels. The city struck a deal with the developer
EastBanc, which survived repeated legal challenges and the Great
West End Library Recession, and now, as a result, the site boasts a luxury apartment
building, with a new West End library occupying most of the
Washington, DC
street level.
CORE architecture + design The architects for the apartment building, international
“starchitect” Enrique Norten with WDG Architecture of DC, did
Base Building Design Architects: TEN Arquitectos general planning for the library space, but the specific and final
Base Building Architects of Record: WDG Architecture interior architecture was by CORE architecture + design, under
Landscape Architects: Oehme, van Sweden | OvS direct contract to the DC Public Library. CORE rearranged the spaces,
Lighting Designers: George Sexton Associates putting children in the rear (which opens to a serene landscaped
Structural Engineers: Tadjer-Cohen-Edelson Associates courtyard) and adults in the front (along L Street). Most notably,
MEP Engineers/LEED Consultants: Cosentini Consulting Engineers they conceived of the long, zig-zagging wall at the rear of the adult
Code Compliance Consultants: Core Engineers Consulting Group space, with a supergraphic that sets a very dynamic tone.
Artists: Adrienne Gaither; Nekisha Durrett A notable feature of the West End branch is its café—a first in a
General Contractor: Clark Construction Group DC Public Library—which occupies the eastern end of the frontage
along L Street. The café is privately run by the chain Bluestone
As readers of ARCHITECTUREDC are well aware, the DC Public Lane, with no direct affiliation to the library, but by design, the two
Library has been a major sponsor of innovative architecture for operate almost seamlessly. When needed, an accordion partition
over a decade. Most of these projects have entailed dramatic new can separate the café from the library, but typically it is wide open:
buildings replacing outmoded freestanding structures. The old one can take books into the café, and one can take coffee into the
West End branch was in a similar situation, except that by the 21st adult reading area. Now that’s worth an award!
century, it found itself sitting on very valuable land, surrounded
The West End Library was previously featured in the Spring 2018 issue
by a densely urban neighborhood of high-end condominium
of ARCHITECTUREDC.
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENTS 39