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ArchDC Summer 2019.qxp_Spring 2019 5/22/19 2:57 PM Page 29

The Forum, conceived as a “living room” for the community.

space and those using it can feel a sense of spiraling The building’s interior color palette is primarily a
upward or downward in moving between the first and combination of lighter tones. The main accent comes
second floors. from walnut-colored wood paneling that warms up the
At the top of the main stair is a small reading area interior and gives the spaces a more residential feel—
overlooking the lofted forum. Just beyond is the building’s something that the area’s residents requested. (Similar-
large main reading room, called the Adult Collection, colored wood panels are used on the building’s exterior.)
which is amply daylighted by huge window walls at either The scheme, Bell said, allows brighter colors to come
end of the room and additional overhead windows in the from the library’s furniture and the covers of its books.
room’s factory-style saw-tooth ceiling. The overhead The Cleveland Park Library provides “new space for
windows face north so as to admit a book-friendly, gentle children’s and adult collections, substantially larger and
northern light. The window wall on the north end of the more flexible meeting rooms, conference facilities, and
room frames an impressive view of the Connecticut study spaces connecting the community inside and out,”
Avenue commercial corridor and the Broadmoor apartment PEDC said. The design can support meetings totaling up
building beyond. to 400 people in various configurations. And unlike the
Bookcases in the middle of the room offer plenty of meeting room in the old library building, the new
shelving space, but are low enough to allow users to library’s meeting spaces are acoustically insulated, so that
perceive the room as a single, grand space. Four glass- meetings won’t disturb readers elsewhere in the building.
enclosed study rooms—the ones that partially cantilever The neighborhood has responded well to the firm’s
over the lofted forum space—are situated along one side efforts. “Since the building’s opening, foot traffic has
of the Adult Collection; an additional conference room is increased to 20,000 customers per month, and circulation
on the other side. The building’s ground floor level has increased by a third, to 28,000 per month,” the firm
includes two additional meeting rooms as well as office said. “During the first three months after the library’s
and support spaces. opening, the average monthly booking of the meeting
“The library is full of spaces of different size and spaces increased to 153—a threefold increase from [the
character to meet the needs of a broad and varied rate supported by] the old library’s meeting room.”
demographic of users,” PEDC said. “Spaces for quiet “One of the roles of architecture,” Bell said, “is to
study, noisy play, social interaction, and quiet meditation heighten people’s awareness of the specialness” of their
can all be found in the library. The design includes local architectural context. The firm’s design for the
cubbies, benches, balconies, and room for individuals or Cleveland Park Library does that, producing “a building
large groups.” Throughout the design, “interior spaces that couldn’t be anywhere else.”
large and small provide glimpses and framed views of
the historic community.”

THE (QUIET) LIFE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD 29