Bellevue Library / Adjaye Associates

Bellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - Windows, FacadeBellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - HandrailBellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - Table, Chair, BeamBellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - More Images

Text description provided by the architects. The second of Adjaye Associates’ new neighborhood libraries for the District of Columbia, the William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Library is characterised by its celebration of views across the neighborhood, and its insertion into the dramatically sloping site topography. The challenge was also to create a civic building within a residential context.

Bellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - Handrail
© Edmund Sumner

Rather than a single monolithic form, the library is a cluster of geometric volumes, both elevated and grounded physically to the site. Using the grounded main volume to host the library central stacks and primary reading, the elevated volumes create a welcoming portico at the entrance that can be used for events and informal gatherings. The volumes mediate the scale of the building by using small, medium and large forms, derived from the library’s programme but also capturing the surrounding urban fabric and the site topography. Wrapped in a concrete and glazed skin with timber fins, the envelope not only resolves structural and shading requirements, but also articulates the vertical presence of the building juxtaposed to the sloping landscape.

Bellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - Table, Chair, Beam
© Edmund Sumner

On plan, the volumes follow the geometry of the site to form a series of identical, shifting rectangles. The arrangement maximizes the eastern exposure for filtered natural lighting, which is the primary light source. The library service areas are layered, with adults, teenage and children’s services contained within the separate volumes. The first floor contains the circulation desk, adult browsing, sights and sound, a meeting room and library staff support spaces. The second floor has additional adult browsing and children services. The third floor contains further adult, meeting rooms and teen services. The concrete staircase, taking visitors up to the higher levels, matches the incline of the street.

Bellevue Library / Adjaye Associates - Windows, Facade
© Edmund Sumner

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Project location

Address:Bellevue Library, 1111 110th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004, USA

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About this office
Cite: "Bellevue Library / Adjaye Associates" 01 Aug 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/258098/bellevue-library-adjaye-associates> ISSN 0719-8884

© Edmund Sumner

美国贝尔维尤图书馆 / Adjaye Associates

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