A Jewel Box for Literary Gems

Q&A with Michael Wiencek

By Beth Herman

Opening in June, the 22,500 s.f. Francis A. Gregory Library, 2100 36^th Place SE, was the result of a collaborative effort between London- and New York-based Adjaye Associates, charged with the design, and architect of record Wiencek & Associates. DCMud talked with Principal Michael Wiencek about influences and site challenges the LEED Silver building posed.

DCMud: You are known to specialize in what some have called transformative multifamily housing. How did this inform your work on the Francis A. Gregory Library?

Wiencek:  We knew that Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for D.C., was interested in making libraries iconic, even though they may be neighborhood or branch libraries. She has the same passion about changing people’s lives through her libraries as we have about changing them through our multifamily housing. Ginnie wants people, and kids in particular, to start to view the library as an asset. Just like our housing—when we’re designing something in a disadvantaged neighborhood, we’re always trying to do something that raises the level of design quality people are used to. It gives them a boost of self-esteem. In the library’s case, it draws you to it so you’re utilizing something you may not have.

DCMud: So children factor into the space in a very special way.

Wiencek: The formative years really make a big difference in your life, so you’re experiencing good architecture and by virtue of that you’re pulled into this building.

DCMud: What did you find at ground zero, and what was the genesis of the design?

Wiencek: In both this library and the William O. Lockridge/ Bellevue Neighborhood Library’s case, we replaced two 1950s brick boxes with no character, ambience or design whatsoever. David Adjaye’s inspiration for this building was a fabric jewel box, which appears to be how he does a lot of his designs. He works from an object.

DCMud: Simplistically, the building has been compared to a large, beveled mirror. What can you tell us about the process?

Wiencek: The curtain wall (glazing) systems that we used on the two libraries did not exist before they were built. We worked with the manufacturer to design two new systems. In a normal building, the curtain wall is an aluminum frame that hangs off the building and carries the glass. In this case it is laminated wood—of course renewable— that carries the glass. Also, there are varying diamond shapes. They may look very uniform when you first see them, but each one is different: The angle of the curtain wall is changing at each facet. There are only one or two pieces of glass that are actually the same size in that building. Adjaye also didn’t want to have columns sitting out there as support systems. So we made the curtain wall become the structure at the perimeter. And the grillage canopy which floats above the roof has a similar faceting design to it.

DCMud: Describe the site and any site challenges.

Wiencek: The library abuts National Park Service land at the rear with lots of trees. It’s the jewel box sitting on the street, playing against nature. In fact if you go at the right time of day, the building almost disappears because the glass has some reflectivity to it and reflects the trees from across the street and in front and in back. What everybody sees as this very structured, rigid frame design sort of disappears.

Parking was a challenge, as it went on the old site and there was none. But it is near main transit lines, and these libraries are meant to be within walking distance of the surrounding community.

To make our building work we had to keep a wall from the original library there, or we’d have had to encroach on the Park Service land. We wanted to use a small portion of their land as access, but that was not allowed as it is a national park. If you stand in the library and look back into the park land, it slopes down and away. If we could have cleared some of the undergrowth and made a lawn below the trees, it could have been an even more amazing space. Looking down at that park would have made it an experience like being at an art gallery—the trees like sculpture sitting out on the landscape.

DCMud: What about your own landscape? How did you come to your specialty in the area of affordable housing?

Wiencek: At the beginning of my career (1978), I met an architect at the very end of his: Hilyard Robinson. The auditorium at the Howard University School of Architecture is named after him, where he was on the faculty. He was an African American architect who started practicing in the 1930s, and did a lot of the housing near Gallaudet University like Langston Terrace. His buildings were geared toward affordable housing, but the results had a lot of design and respect for the people who were going to live there. He put so much thought into this work, and we had many talks about why he’d done what he’d done.

My father was director of personnel at NIH, and he’d always talked about social justice. He was all about creating jobs for all kinds of people back in the ‘60s when it wasn’t yet part of the culture. Between the two of them, it gave me the desire to make a difference and respect people through architecture. I hope to get the chance to renovate some of Hilyard Robinson’s buildings.

Today in Pictures - William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Library

The District of Columbia opened its newest library this week, the Washington Highlands branch William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Library at 115 Atlantic Avenue, SW (that little slice of southwest you didn't know existed on the north edge of Bellevue).  The original library, built on the site in 1959, was demolished in 2009 in favor of a modernist design created by Adjaye Associates.  Jair Lynch was the development manager of the project. The library was designed to earn a LEED Silver certification.

 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Smithsonian's New Museum of African American History and Culture Unveils Latest Design Changes

Awarded the rights to design the Museum of African American History and Culture by the Smithsonian back in April of 2009, a Smithsonian presenter and team of architects from Freelon, Adjaye Associates, and Davis Brody Bond unveiled the newest plans for the National Mall's next museum yesterday. Responding to initial concerns about the large size of the building and it's impact on the views of the Washington Monument and surrounding Mall, the team presented their augmented designs - lowered, and shifted back - to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). This is the first of many give and take meetings that will play out before the building is finally built and opened in November of 2015. Next stop: the Commission of Fine Arts will review the newest concept design, final approval on the design will not come until 2012.

The three tiers (the "Corona") of bronze, porous, pumice-stone-like material still form the bulk of the structure. What was originally a large base of the building, the "Porch," has been mostly pushed below grade so only the top pierces ground level, a concession to the prominence of Washington's Monument. The raised platform will retain its mezzanine functionality as a place to install skylights to illuminate below grade programming. Planners are proposing to mound the earth around the structure to replicate the sloping dimensions of the neighboring Monument grounds.

Overall, the building's footprint and profile have been reduced, and adjusted slightly to the south, to diminish the perceived brutish visual intrusion of the building as initially rendered. Although the designers admit that this new position shifts the building a bit offline from the center alignment of existing museums, the changes were made to create a less obtrusive structure, and allow more open sight lines to and pleasantly framed views of the Washington Monument from Constitution Avenue.

Initial renderings showed the Porch rising high above ground

Revisions on technical matters - security, landscaping, loading and docks - will continue, but the Commission had approved previous conceptual designs, and no comments from the NCPC panel appeared likely to derail the overall concept. But persisting complaints highlighted the difficulties that lay ahead for this design team. A long road to appease a plethora of the different guard dog and policy making entities awaits: DDOT, National Park Service, NCPC, the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, Office of Planning, and more. One panelist commended the design team for both their efforts at middle ground and their endeavor to blend a modern design into the setting of the Mall. "I sympathize greatly with the design team...With all of their demands, it seems a lot of my colleagues seem to want to you build a building that is invisible." With that being unlikely, the design may well retain the form presented at yesterday's unveiling. Another interesting reaction was that of Commission member Herbert F. Ames, who after applauding the design team, slammed down his fist and implored Congress (who I'm pretty sure wasn't in the room) to put a stop to any new projects set for the National Mall. "We're going to ruin a national treasure," he said, "the Mall was full years ago, and the Mall is full now."

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Library From the Future Set to Land in Southeast

At first look, it's fair to wonder if the ghost of an argyle-sweater-totting Payne Stewart or a checker-clad circus clown helped design the soon-to-be-built Francis Gregory Library at 3660 Alabama Avenue SE. But like the progressively designed Washington Highlands Library, London-based David Adjaye is responsible for the ultramodern architecture that is slowly giving a hip new face to the District's libraries. Construction for the two-story, 22,500 s.f. building is set to get under way within the next two weeks, becoming Adjaye's second attempt to pass a glass box off as public library, after his "Idea Store" in Whitechapel, England put his atypical architectural acumen on the style map.

When designing the Washington Highlands Library, the size of the plot gave architects ample room to play with. Houses in the surrounding neighborhoods and on-site land elevation changes dictated many of the design decisions, but in the case of the Gregory Francis Library, architects were still expected to provide space for the same program requirements, and gifted much less area to perform on. This forced planners to push the building to the edges of the lot, leaving little room for landscaping or parking. Fortunately the site is surrounded on three sides by tree-filled parkland, so Adjaye and his design team were inspired to create a pavilion-like structure, blurring the boundary between outside and in. The glass walls are endowed with a checkerboard pattern, alternating squares of translucent glass and mirror to provide the ability to see in and out, while also reflecting the surrounding nature. This theme of open sight lines extends to the interior, as colored, transparent glass boxes help delineate program elements within, such as the children or teen sections of the library. Other interior boxes take on a wood grain finish to evoke the natural setting just steps outside the library walls.

A large overhanging canopy extends above the main glass structure to further conjure the image and feeling of a pavilion, and provide shade and protection from rain, snow, and ice. The roof is equipped with a louver system, enabling staff to adjust fan blades to allow more or less natural sunlight to penetrate through the ceiling, depending on the preferred temperature and time of year, much like the roof of the Verizon Center. Given the incredible amount of precipitation dumped on the Metro area last winter, engineers were forced to tweak the angle of the roof to make sure accumulated snow and ice loads could slide safely off. Thick, insulated, high performance glass forms the main structure of the building, coated with "low e" to reduce soar gain. Impressively, architects say the limited temperature transfer is comparable to a brick building.

Developers had hoped to incorporate walkways and design elements that more directly connect the library with the elementary school to the west and the park to the east, but the design team received little cooperation from either entity. What little room there is between the library walls and the property lines is landscaped to mirror the checkerboard pattern of the building frontage, hexagon cement pavers alternating with grass planters.

Although there was some complaint that these designs had been stealthily rushed through the ANC and community forum process without adequate public announcement, Zoning eventually approved building plans, and the Southeast is now set to receive a truly unique public building, set to open next summer at a cost of $13.5 million. Appreciated or not, Adjaye's postmodernist architectural vision will not end with the conclusion of the District Library's construction and renovation projects, as his firm is one of several firms involved in bringing another unusual design to life with the building of the Smithsonian's new Museum of African American Culture.

Washington DC real estate development news

Innovative Design Adds Modern Flare to Future Washington Highlands Library

The hard work to be done in providing a beautiful new home for over 80,000 books, CDs, DVDs, and the children and adults who will read and watch them began yesterday, as Mayor Fenty was on site to celebrate the groundbreaking of the soon to be Washington Highlands Public Library. The construction site at 115 Atlantic Street, SW in Ward 8 is officially active. And although construction begins slightly behind schedule, the goal for a timely completion by next summer remains firmly in place.

The design process and architectural responsibilities have been undertaken in a joint venture between renowned NYC based Adjaye Associates and local firm Wiencek + Associates Architects + Planners PC. The Tanzanian-born, ethnically Ghanian, and now resident Englishman David Adjaye and his team of architects laid out the design, while Wiencek is charged with seeing out its execution. Both cooperated extensively throughout the design stages, meeting regularly, and engaging with each other and the community to arrive at a master plan that balances modern aesthetics with functionality. This was a first for Wiencek, as the firm has never worked on a project that was not a design of their own creation. But having previously worked with Adjaye on a venture that failed to pan out, the firms found a symbiosis in their interaction, and were quick to re-explore the relationship when this opportunity presented itself.

When finished, this ultra modern design will receive LEED Silver Certification. In addition to the books, CDs, and DVDs, the 22,000 s.f. space will house 22 new computers, wireless internet, and a meeting space for up to 100 people, as well as two conference rooms each with a maximum capacity of 14 people. The new building will overlook a sloping landscape including a colorful new garden, courtyard, green wall, and outdoor amphitheater. The job of development and construction is being managed by Blue Skye Construction along with Coakley & Williams. When the books are closed, the budget is expected to total somewhere between $10 and $12 million.

Architect Scott Knudson of Wiencek & Associates explained that one of the great challenges of the process was offering a progressive, engaging design that successfully negotiated a transition space between a commercial and residential area. The architects intend their design to offer an attractive and inspiring but unobtrusive nexus between the nearby single-family homes and the retail buildings. The materials and the functionality of the new library are those expected of a large scale civic building, while the design is meant to replicate the basic structure of the nearby neighborhood houses. Like a residence - comprised of a dominant structure and augmented by several aggregate forms (porch, back addition, side room) - the new library will consist of one larger main building with several smaller pod-like attachments. The steep slope and the staggered appendages helped the designers organize the various spaces into three floors without imposing an intimidatingly large structure on the surrounding landscape. The library will be organized into three distinct spaces for children, teens, and adults.

The main building is almost entirely glass, textured by an engulfing timber curtain wall that helps the structure blend into the natural surroundings. The two affixed pods will be concrete and also striped by wooden planks. Experimenting with new materials, the architects elected to spray the concrete pods with a polyurethane coating usually reserved for protecting oil storage tanks, creating a unique veneer and enlivening the blandness of unadorned concrete. The outer timber wall will be mirrored on the inside with bamboo floors, enhancing the natural feel of the interior and exterior. In order to keep the interior look clean and simple, Scott Knudson says, "We worked incredibly hard to create a seamless integration of the HVAC system, to the point where you don't even see it." The architects also went to great lengths to stay within budget - one of the especially difficult challenges with any public works project - without cutting any of the most essential design elements. The skylights were almost left on the cutting room floor, but architects stood firm in their insistence that natural light from above was integral to the creation of an open air atmosphere that Adjaye and his team sought.

Public works such as a library should be like a park, stresses Adjaye, a place without feelings of constraint. These ideas play themselves out in the design, as much of the building offers natural light, high ceilings, and panoramic views of the encompassing greenery. In the concrete pods, large windows offer more focused views of the neighboring garden and courtyard. Like the exterior of the main building, much of the interior employs the use of glass, most of it treated in different ways to create a smoky, soft transparency that offers the feeling and idea of separation without completely suffocating the eye's urge to wander. These textured glasses, and complementary materials allow study rooms and cubicles to be simultaneously private and open. With the exposed concrete, geometric features, and unadorned glass, the building has "a strong, rugged personality," Knudson elaborated, "but refrains from imposing itself on the visitor or the natural environment." The architectural concepts and philosophies employed here are derivative of one of Adjaye's most successful buildings in London, a small library he designed in the East End neighborhood of Whitechapel that has been dubbed "the Idea Store." It was a visit to this library by D.C. Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper that inspired her to embark on the restyling and reconditioning of the District's library system. The visit has now also helped bring the styles of a young and innovative architect to the nation's capital.

Many residents were apprehensive about Adjaye's modish design, and others were skeptical that demolition and reconstruction, rather than renovation, was a financially responsible decision. But a series of meetings with the community helped the team of architects revise and reform their renderings in order to address such concerns. A cost-benefit analysis and government-issued study of the conditions of the current building determined that a reconstruction as opposed to renovation was advantageous, and while the aesthetics remain rather progressive, compromise has been reached.

Residents of Washington Highlands can look forward to a brand new library in a year's time, a property that will recall a large, hip, alfresco cafe in the place of a thick-walled municipal building. Adjaye's two library projects, the other being the Francis A. Gregory Library, will help introduce Washingtonians to his unique architectural eye for which he is well-respected in London. The projects are only a taste of more to come, as Adjaye's proposal recently helped win the contract to design the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Washington DC real estate development news

District Libraries Prepare for Full Body Makeover

Two District of Columbia public libraries are seeking approval to raze their current buildings to make room for a total makeover in 2010. The dazzling new 20,000 s.f., LEED-certified buildings should be back in service to the surrounding communities by 2011. The new Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library at 115 Atlantic Street, SW, and Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library at 3660 Alabama Avenue, SE are designed by international architects Adjaye Associates along with Wiencek and Associates, who were awarded over $2.6 million for the designs.

The construction contracts differ from many District contracts in that an initial small amount is paid to the construction contractors as they negotiate their way through the design process with the architects. Then the contractors will proffer an estimated maximum construction cost, which will have to go before the City Council for approval. According to George Williams, spokesperson for the DCPL, the estimated costs for construction at each library is $10 million, but total costs could range up to $16 million depending on the contractors and the City Council.

The award for construction for the Washington Highland branch went to a partnership between Coakley & Williams and Blue Skye Construction. The design, reminiscent of the Tenley Library just begun, received approval from the Commission of Fine Arts in November. Library authorities are hoping for raze approval in the end of January or early February with construction beginning shortly thereafter. The temporary location opened this month at 4037 South Capitol St., SW.

Hess Construction will partner with Broughton Construction Company LLC to build the new Francis A. Gregory Library. DCPL submitted a raze application in October and the agency is also waiting on approval before any construction can begin.

Both new buildings will feature a public meeting room, study areas, a computer lab, and separate reading areas for children, teens and adults.

Washington, DC real estate development news

National Museum of African American History and Culture Design Process Crawling Along

The design for the future National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall checked off its first of a series of reviews today, when the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) heard a presentation from the Smithsonian Institution and their chosen architect, Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup, about the plans for the building. Though commissioners praised the quality of the design, many expressed "serious concerns" about the current design's size and massing in relation to the Mall and the Washington Monument. The design process is scheduled to last approximately 3 years, with construction beginning in 2012. The 5 acres of land near the Washington Monument have been the subject of vociferous debate first with the National Park Service opposing its use for anything but the grassy space that exists today, then with 22 designs competing for the site and now with sundry federal and local agencies reviewing the merits of the design that won out over five other semi-finalists this past April. Bounded by Constitution Avenue, Madison Drive, 14th and 15th Streets NW, the site would be the terminus of the Smithsonian museums on the Constitution side of the mall, leading up to the Washington Monument. The current design is what the architect described as a pavilion, its base embracing the mound-like structure at the base of the neighboring "temple" buildings, which include the Museum of Natural History and the American History Museum. The building then opens inwards like a "front porch" to reflect a structure common in both traditional West African and southern African American cultures, according to the architect. The mass of the building is aligned with the Museum of Natural History and it is no higher than the American History Museum. NCPC commissioners generally commented favorably on the concept, especially praising the interior design of the building. However, one after another, members expressed concern that the building would diminish the impressiveness of the Washington Monument because, as one commissioner put it, the design "failed" to maintain "the integrity of the mall." Other commissioners mentioned that part of the design process involved the architects providing three alternative design concepts, a process which would "improve the final project." With the design far from finished, NCPC will hear from the team again in the spring of 2010.

Washington DC real estate development news

Freelon to Design African American History Museum

The Smithsonian Institute announced today (via their insanely popular Smithsonian Channel Blog) that the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond in association with SmithGroup have been selected to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture. To be constructed at 15^th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, the 350,000 square foot museum will stand on the very last vacant parcel of the National Mall.

Since the prospective designs went public last month, the winning team has gone on to beat out a formidable list of competitors that included Diller Scofidio and Renfro and KlingStubbins;" Devrouax and Purnell Architects, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners; Moshe Safdie and Associates and Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates), Foster and Partners and URS and Moody Nolan Inc. and Antoine Predock Architect.

“[We] set up a poll on the Smithsonian Channel Blog asking readers who they think should win and although the Moody Nolan was the clear favorite, another design took home the win,” said Filippa Fenton of Smithsonian Networks. So much for democracy.

According to the Smithsonian, the selected “bronze-tiered design” (aka “the corona”) represents a “melding of cultural symbols, traditions and movements” from “the working landscapes of the American south to the crowns of Nigerian Yoruba artifacts.”

Construction of the $500 million complex is currently scheduled to begin in 2012. For a detailed look at Washington’s soon-to-be newest museum, check out the swanky virtual tour of the design, courtesy of the Smithsonian.