By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 27, 2021 | The designs of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright are influencing the features of a new library now being built on Buford Highway in Norcross, facing into Lillian Webb Park.
The library is no Falling Water, or Robie House or Guggenheim Museum, all designs of Wright.
But as designed by Chad Smith of CAS Architecture in Lawrenceville, you can see the Wright features in several ways:
- The building’s inside horizontal sight lines are 160 feet in length.
- There are no hard, dark corners in the building. Each corner consists of windows.
- The building embraces the landscape.
- The design extends the outside inside, as the inside and outside blur.
- The three horizontal layers have a base of concrete, the overall shaft in brick, and the upper level of metal.
Smith
The 22,745 square foot building, with some sight lines of 160 feet, is anticipated to be open by the end of October, replacing the former library’s 10,000 square foot building. Build-out cost of the building is $12.3 million, a joint venture of Gwinnett County and Norcross. Contractor for the library is Cooper and Company of Cumming. The previous library is closed, preparing to transfer books to the new library.
The new building is constructed on a hilly site, with a concrete parking deck below the single floor of the library. The parking deck is entered from Britt Avenue, and can accommodate 135 vehicles. An elevator takes patrons to the main floor and entrance. This front of the library faces directly onto a plaza and drop-off for patrons, with the greenery of Lillian Webb Park beyond that.
Another Wright design feature is using Roman brick on the building. These bricks are twice as long as regular brick, and accentuate the horizontal quality of the building.
The entrance and its plaza are north-facing, meaning they will always be shady. A 14 foot cantilever overhang along the north side extends the sight lines. Many new libraries, as this one, have “exterior rooms” with benches and table tops for patrons to sit outside, with Wi-Fi access.
Meanwhile, a feature of the main floor is a “living room” atmosphere for patrons to enjoy, made popular by Ray Oldenburg’s 1989 concept of “third place.” This will bring a feeling of warmth to the area, and allow people to “take ownership of the library” as if it were as comfortable as their home. The ceilings at nine feet, four inches high, adds to the openness.
The new Norcross Library is another library designed by Chad Smith, who has specialized in library design. He is currently about to open a new library in LaGrange, Ga., and has started design work on the new Hooper Renwick Library in Lawrenceville. He is also designing the new Hickory Flat library in Cherokee County, and the Gritters library in Cobb County.
Before starting his own firm, Smith worked for Precision Planning of Lawrenceville, and designed the Hamilton Mill Library. That library was the first LEED Gold library in Georgia. Other library projects which he has completed include those in Bogart, Barnesville and Sewell Mill in Marietta.
Gray Booth, who is the Gwinnett County project manager for the Norcross library, is a veteran of building libraries in the county. He now has supervised the construction of eight Gwinnett libraries. That includes every library Gwinnett has built since 1997. Which does he like best? “I like to build. I like them all.”
When open, the new Norcross library will charm patrons in its design, inspired by a giant of the architectural world.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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