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Sammamish Library

Project Description

This project consisted of a 20,000 square foot structural steel frame library over a 20,000 SF garage. The garage includes cast-in-place concrete walls with a post-tensioned concrete elevated deck. The envelope is metal-stud framed construction with a skin of ship-lapped Trespa composite panels, aluminum panels, and glass curtain wall. The building interior incorporates a custom 6-foot long gas fireplace, stained concrete flooring, wood slat panels at walls, ceilings, and columns, custom wood casework, and an acoustical ceiling tile system.

The building’s interior incorporates a custom 6-foot long gas fireplace, stained concrete flooring, wood slat panels at walls, ceilings, and columns, custom wood casework and an acoustical ceiling tile system. The entire library is heated and cooled through radiant piping within a topping slab poured above the post-tensioned deck. This system is fed from a geo-thermal ground loop located underneath the parking lot and the eastern landscape area. The main reading area is daylight fed as the roof projects above the rest of the space to allow for a continuous “ring of glass” around the perimeter.

Custom shed skylights allow more daylight casting through a fiberglass composite interior sheathing to create warm natural light below. The glass curtain wall areas incorporate operable windows that are automatically controlled by the building management system to open and shut as the building needs heating or cooling. An exterior solar control shade at the west elevation is controlled by the weather. As the sun moves across the sky, the shades will tilt automatically. In wind, they will retract to avoid damage.

Construction involved coordinating and incorporating an ‘Automatic Material Handler’ book drop that leads to a series of conveyor belts which read and sort the books by type as they are returned. The sidewalks incorporate natural landscape boulders and the outside parking lot is paved with pervious concrete. 

Project Details

Location

Sammamish, WA

Owner

King County Library Systems

Architect

40,000

Size

2009

Completed

2009