Oak Park Public Library

Project of the Year: Library Construction

Creating an important civic building was an overriding goal for the library project in west suburban Oak Park, Ill.

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The building was to reflect Oak Park's strong architectural heritage, mirror the community's diversity and provide flexibility to serve residents well into the future. It includes below-grade parking for 80 cars.

The 140,000-sq.-ft. library was the result of a long, deliberate and public design process.

Features Urban Design

The partial closure of Grove Avenue allowed for the creation of a public plaza, and the plaza extends to the west edge of Scoville Park for festivals and special events.

The closure allowed the library to be constructed with large floor plates for greater flexibility, and the library extends to the center of Grove Avenue and tapers into alignment with its residential neighbors to the north. The new plaza serves as the library entry.

Scoville Park has been described as Oak Park's living room, and enclosure is important to its character. The massing of the library is sensitive to the area.

The library is in a transitional point between the village's primary commercial districts and it is adjacent to three important institutional buildings - the post office, Unity Temple and First United Church. These buildings differ stylistically, but each is rendered in monolithic materials that give each the monumentality appropriate to its institutional function.

In contrast, the Jens Jensen-designed Scoville Park, which has an informal and organic character, faces the library's east side.

As a result, the Lake Street facade is formal to reflect the character of the nearby institutional buildings. It is rendered in monolithic, textured Kasota stone and formally arranged window openings.

But the Scoville Park elevation is informal and is clad in copper panels that will patina over time. Large windows offer great views into the park. Window divisions call to mind a book's leaves and binding.

The irregularity of the park facade is echoed in the stone sign and fountain at the entry, the patterning of plaza paving and interior flooring, the sloped ceiling planes in the collections area and the interior graphic walls on each floor.

Looking Inside

The library is not organized around a large dominant space but through a series of elements that help lead visitors through.

The most dramatic space is the main reading room on the third floor overlooking Scoville Park. The room features a soaring wood ceiling waving above tree-like wood columns that echo the park's natural environment.

In the lobby, literary quotes are cast in the terrazzo floor, and literary references are used throughout as ornament and inspiration.

The lobby opens to a dramatic glass-enclosed stair that rises the building's full height and is covered by a skylight that floods the stair with natural light. The stair's transparency provides visual connection from one floor to the next, but acoustic separation is preserved.

Art glass decorated with literary references wraps the stair interior. Similar graphics ornament the west wall of collection areas on each floor.

The library has a silent study room with views of Lake Street and Unity Temple, a book discussion room and children's program room.

The community is environmentally conscious and insisted on sustainable materials.

The copper cladding the entrance and east elevation is recyclable. Other elements include a green roof, large windows for daylighting and the use of recycled rubber flooring.

14-Month Schedule

Construction was completed in 14 months and several things were done to meet the schedule.

The general contractor, The Meyne Co. division of Bulley & Andrews LLC, did the concrete work - pouring 7,500 yds. in five months - and managed the site access and material delivery and staging.

The jury said, "The design ideas were fresh. The library reflected the look of the neighboring institutional buildings but also the city park. They had to fit it in."