|
|
HOMESTEAD
HIGH SCHOOL NEW LIBRARY
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Photography:
Michael Bruk Photography
The design team’s challenge was to add a new library to an existing high school campus. The building had to fit within the last available site on the campus: a site that was bordered by buildings on three sides, a noisy vehicular drop-off area and main street, and a large heritage oak tree in the center. The site administrators felt that it was important that the new library not block views of the heritage oak tree from the street, yet provide a quiet and elegant solution to a difficult site.
Along the street side, the building takes cues from the existing masonry buildings. The masonry walls maintain the scale and fenestration pattern of the street elevations of the existing buildings, while glimpses of a clerestory window and suspended overhang suggest something very different beyond. The triangular geometry of the plan creates a controlled entrance from the street that opens and expands outward into a new courtyard space revealing the heritage oak tree. From the street, the height of the building allows views to oak tree beyond.
The building diagram is an L-shape concrete masonry structure, with a diagonal steel and glass wall connecting the two concrete masonry “legs”. The concrete masonry protects a quiet book stacks area and related facilities, while the light steel and glass space enclose the main reading room. The window wall allows uninterrupted views to the oak tree and courtyard, as well as allowing natural light to penetrate the depth of the building. Various shading devices filter the natural light and control heat gain. Casual seating areas are placed along the window wall.
The resulting design is the successful blend of concrete masonry construction that protects the library from the noisy street, integrates with the existing masonry buildings and respects a very important and beautiful heritage oak tree.
ARCHITECT:
Deems
Lewis McKinley
12 Gough Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Erwin
F. Lee, AIA
Principal
STRUCTURAL
ENGINEER:
Deems Lewis McKinley
GENERAL
CONTRACTOR:
Zolman Construction and Development
MASONRY
CONTRACTOR:
John Jackson Masonry
BLOCK
PRODUCER:
Basalite Concrete Building Products
OWNER:
Fremont Union High School District
