Interior of Tiverton Public Library /Union Studio
Exterior of Tiverton Public Library /Union Studio
Tiverton, RI – At a ceremony held recently by the American Institute of Architects’ New England Chapter, Union Studio Architecture & Community Design received a Merit Award for the architectural design of the new Tiverton Public Library.
The 24,000sf building includes a business center, popular library, and a variety of gathering and reading spaces. Surrounding the daylit central core of the building are a community meeting hall and café that are available after hours, a dedicated children’s library, teen library, local history room, adult reading areas, and exterior public courtyard spaces. The interior design ensures that natural light touches every space — minimizing the amount of artificial lighting required during daytime hours. Built to exacting sustainable design standards, the Tiverton Library is currently achieving its goal of reducing by two-thirds the per square foot energy use compared to their former library facility.
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“This award is a significant achievement for the Tiverton Library team,” notes Union Studio Principal, Douglas Kallfelz, “mainly because it was selected as one of the best examples of institutional architecture among New England design firms working on projects in any country in the world. The team that advocated so passionately to build this special public building in Rhode Island is delighted by this level of recognition.”
The design for the Tiverton Public Library represents the balance of two different requests by the client and community. The first was a clear desire for this new library to have a traditional expression that would reflect the history of libraries in Tiverton (and specifically the much loved Essex Library that was being replaced), while also reflecting the architecture typical throughout the surrounding countryside. The second request was that the library be a truly 21st century, energy efficient and data rich community gathering space – open, extremely flexible and sustainable. Kallfelz notes “Our hope, along with the library board of directors, was that this building would inspire the community to re-discover and embrace what a contemporary library could be for Tiverton. This institutional design award from our architectural peers supports our intention to create a very unique – and enjoyable — public gathering space.”
