ABSTRACT
Utilizing a unique “polygonal” shaped site, and influences from the historic neighborhood in which it is located, the DC Public Tenley-Friendship Library is designed using an “open book” metaphor. The materials and orientation reinforce this design idea through an exterior skin that protects the building on one side, while the other side has a transparent façade to engage the neighborhood. A circulation spine brings light into the building and helps to support additional organizational, and sustainable, ideas. A green roof, native plantings, and a solar hot water collector round out the sustainable building choices and reinforce the forward-thinking design of the project that has reinvigorated this neighborhood of the nation’s capital.
