Building of the Day: New York Public Library Van Cortlandt Branch

For NYPL's Van Cortlandt Branch, Andrew Berman Architect evaluated the suitability of a 6,500-square-foot vacant building, which had been constructed in 2007 to serve as a group residence, for conversion into a neighborhood branch library. While the building was never completed or occupied and was in need of significant repair and reconfiguration, its size and location made it an ideal structure for a new branch library.

Andrew Berman Architect worked with a fast-track model to design a comprehensive conversion of this undistinguished building into a welcoming civic structure. The spaces created include a reading room, a community room, a teen room, a children’s room, and a conference room. Part of the original roof was raised to create the public-scaled, light- filled reading room. An entirely new entry façade was designed to present a welcoming and public presence to the neighborhood. A new entry plaza and a rear reading garden  better situate the building in its site.

The new library is well integrated in scale, texture and massing with its environment, and is recognized as a welcoming civic building.

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Architect:  Andrew Berman Architect