Custom «Bronx Library Center» Essay Paper

The Bronx Library Center project construction involves the natural resources like water and energy efficiently These natural resources involved aims at the reduction of construction impacts, which might affect people’s  health and the surroundings during the building period. The designer’s applications of key concepts like, the use natural source of light and reducing interior circulation giving a straight line of sight while at the same time, putting in place a fitting scheme module for appropriate stack arrangement and offering an adaptable loading plan, is significant in showing how the designer values involvement of natural resources in the construction.

The size of the building is highly significant. From its inception, it is desired to replace the former Fordam Center and serve double the population that initially used the facility. An outstanding feature of the building is that it comprises various sustainable concepts. These concepts include the application of high tech curtain wall, broad day lighting, power efficiency system and lighting control mechanism, and acceptable environmental materials, which allows recycling procedure. All the wood used in the construction of the Library has been acquired from forests and certified by the forest council. The use of light shelves and translucent shades details the facilities’ effective utilization of natural resources.

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The pavements of the Bronx Library center cover approximately eight feet width and it stand tall in comparison to the other surrounding blocks. These pavements were put up to assist in accommodation of the enormous crowd streaming in to the library since the library’s launch. This is one of a kind modern library. It has the teen Center section, which is situated on the ground floor. This section is supplied with soundproof fuses, contain flat screens televisions and loud speakers (the speaker’s sound only infuses in to the loud area that is, the teen center) that provide both images and sound respectively. This section has been deliberated so as to convene the needs of the intact youthful population. It also gives the other library users a chance to concentrate on their research in other parts of the library because the noisy group has been well taken care of.

Every floor has conceiving, rational and parallel public areas centered by service, movements and little program sections, appropriate in to the aberrations of the site. The designer’s main reason for planning this center include; the basic concept of using daylight as the main source of light, providing an enclosed study area rarely found in the West, giving collections of books and other items at the centre and seating areas in the lustrous daylight sections at the facility.

This library stands where the former library, that is, Fordham Branch Library was previously. The settings provide a larger circulation and carry back collections together with an up to date information technology. This means that it has up to 150 public computers; equipped educational, commerce, and technology training to every person despite age; reading classes and proficiency in English language programs. The magazines and books, which accumulate to utmost 200, 000 copies, videos, tapes, CD and DVD ROMS, are found. All these present in this facility plays a critical role in providing each and every person with a chance to enjoy the different technological feel.

It is large than the Fordham Branch Library; it is more than three times its size, has two times more  patrons than the former library, has a lending rate of books and other items, which is three times more compared to the first one, and is equipped with the issuance of more  reading cards than its predecessor.

The Bronx Library also hosts the cultural centers for both Puerto Ricans and Latinos. It is also equipped with a wide bilingual computing, trainings and cultural presentations, in addition to multimedia shows. This building often host general public functions in the auditoriums, the well equipped conference rooms, and classrooms.

The architects confirmed that they outsourced almost sixty percent of the materials from more than five hundred miles. This fact has been emphasized to reflect the essentiality of the construction from the moment of its design to time of its completion. The designer gave the best design for the facility, which today is considered the most important object in the entire region.

This library, being the flag bearer of thirty four branches of Bronx Library, sits a block away on the southern side of the house of Edgar Poe and slightly a block on the western side to the first Fordham library. The Fordham building’s rather dark along with the lack of up to date technology depicted the fact that it was not good enough for the New York City residents. The New York residents are well known for their reading culture as well as their financial ability. They, therefore, saw that Fordham facility, though very useful at that time, was neither reflecting their culture nor giving them the comfort they needed to enjoy reading.

Achievements

The sustainability of the design in the year two thousand and one represented a new dawn to library procedures across the globe. Though this was a foreign concept then, in the recent years almost everything coming up put considerations to the sustainability factor. It is, therefore, thought that sustainability was first brought about by Bronx Library Center. The success story of the library provides encouragement to the maintenance team to keep up the good job started by the architects. This, however, they earned after extensive educational processes on the operations of the complex structure including the mechanical functions of the system. The management saw that there is a need to train its personnel at all levels on the daily operations of the facility so as to ensure its full utilization.

The consultancy firm in terms of sustainability returned to the library to give an extra commissioning for the first term in operations. This resulted to the best functions for the machines noting only very minimal issues.

The glass shade wall allowing penetration of light into the entire areas of the library consists of detached frames and Lofty function glass. The archaic bright shelves and lucid shades enhance the design’s intentions of using the natural illumination as the only source of light. This is fulfillment of the designers needs to utilize the available natural resources.

To save on energy sufficiently, in case of unoccupied places, the application of photo sensors and residency sensors by the architects came in handy.  The star roofing energy reflects sunlight heat. This, thereby, minimizes the cooling effects internally while enhancing the heat effect in the urban island.  With good weather days, the library applies the air from outside for cooling. The power efficiency projects reducing the energy supply cost to less than twenty percent annually from the base rate; this is purely calculated on simulation, giving an indication of the importance of this design for the environment.

The designers are maintaining various assorting materials with benefits to the setting and at similar instant, focusing their attentions on the project with the characteristics of the materials to the environment. When the demolition of Con Edison premises, on the same site, entered its completion stage, the constructors and the building owners reached a consensus on the sale of the twenty percent of the materials to scrap metal dealers. This process has its main aim of sheltering demolition costs while committing the remaining eighty percent to the recycling process.

The constructors of the building were keeping one thing in mind throughout the designing period. This idea that they kept throughout construction was to offer as much space as possible while applying the simplest and recognizable items by the visitors.

To maintain low budget of running the library, the architects considered the application of extensive chimneys and economizer systems for the air Holding Units. They ensure that the technical bench cut loose on hiring the highly paid licensed machine operators. In addition, the use of different pace drives for water pumps and lower leveled horse powers (just about 15 horse powers) and compressors also assisted in this programs achievement.

This is the first public library to get silver LEED certifications from Green Building Council in America. It is also the first construction funded by the state in New York City and it caters for almost fifteen million people yearly and approximately twenty one million users over the internet.

The many honors for the library can only be listed. It received a citation from AIANYS for excellence in design; this is a very rare award and only the selected few usually gain this honors. This design also received a silver award from construction and Building Design Team and Honorable mention from Green Building award in New York City. The award of Merit from IES-IIDA, in Environmental Design and building Design Excellence, came just in time. It encouraged so many people to establish the importance of maintaining a greener environment, which ensures sustainability. Following in close pursuit, the design earned the excellence lighting award from GE Edison for sustainable constructions.

Although, at first, the designers were skeptical about the reaction of the locals, after putting into consideration the openness of the library, the continuous flocking of many people in and out of the library achieved the desired open nature library and the energy efficiency need. (Daniel Heuberger, AIA)

Almost Seventy percent of the open spaces fall under the minimum requirements for the ratio (dictated by LEED) of sunlight to the illumination and the consequences of the scheme from sunlight. This, in turn, makes the inside brighter as compared to the library’s lighting low density strength that is only 1.3 mega watts per square foot.

Description

            The Gross footage for this seventy eight thousand square feet building, which costs the Dattner Architects based in New York City a total of $50millions, remains an amazement to the local population and the global humanity. This building’s design revolves around a four storey function, which has glass shade wall facing the Eastside Kingsbridge road, a few steps from Fordham Avenue market district in the Bronx. The curtain glass contains an archaic lesser U-factor of 0.39 and stands out when compared to two sided pane windows. The 16 foot long built beams positioned in the reading areas, which, when viewed from outside gives a reflection of people on a busy retail market than a normal library is just out of this world (Miller, 2010). 

The building has a unified Convention light bookshelf accompanied by built in diverging fluorescent straight illumination, which is casting back light to the arched rooftop and forcing sunlight to penetrate inside the building. The Lucid nylon threads and mechanized curtains combined in to the system of the wall operate manually at the receptions on each floor. Because of the use of different materials, the builders must be commended for the good coordination to bring about the design. 

The photocells mounted on the ceilings on all floors pursues lighting heights by dimming the tight fluorescent lights facing down along the transparent shade and controlling the two levels. It switches the in and out lights that hang on the top pile of books.

In the main study area, situated on the fourth floor, the ceiling flows back to the fifth floor’ mezzanine floor. This feature lets in a rush floods of sun rays from the early evenings in to the two separate floors. The sudden attack of light on to the ceiling and the top of the building crowns the construction causing a landmark civic status. This is one of the constructions’ aesthetic features among others.

The back stairs, dressed in dewy like bedding glass, gives privacy to the surrounding houses and offices. They are accompanied by elevators on the left side of the building and on the front side. The middle of the elevator has a light blue color and blends pretty well with the application of maple thin layers in the study room ceiling metals. These personal, structured stairs conceive a different form of processional apprehension of emotions in between the different floors. The stairs also build circulation throughout the library, providing a very vital experience for any visiting person, while at the same time enhancing a relationship between the sections of the Bronx collections, which is spreading all over the library. The artistic work of Manglano-Ovalle, “A young Scholars’ Portrait” with painted glass cans and placed on top of the metal backings distinguish the staircase. It also connects it to a couple of floors beneath it.

The casework carvings meet the Forest Stewardship Council regulations; with ridges Minnesota coarse grain texture slabs on walls and water splashing reflecting on the deep colors of the wall. These materials are significant, and they were brought from miles away from New York.

The mechanical sections on the ceiling contain cooled air conditioners and piled air holding Unit (AHU), which is reinforced by boilers in the ground room. The cool air conditioners, compared to the water coolers, ensure that no patron freezes at the library, reduction of water loss, lack of moisture cover or chemicals and low maintenances costs. To maintain low budget in running of the library, the architects considered the application of extensive chimneys and economizer systems for the air Holding Units. This feature ensures that the technical bench cut loose on hiring the highly paid licensed machine operators. Different pace drives for water pumps and lower leveled horse powers (just about 15 horse power) compressors.

The architecture of the library used nearly eighteen percent lower energy against the Standard 90.1 1999 base (ASHRAE). Ninety percent of the materials used in the building included items recycled from the previous library. The foundation, building metals, carpeting the linoleum floors all used recycled goods, while sending the rest of items from the demolished Fordham Library Center to the steel workers in the area. The veneers and paints give low mechanical emissions and low formulae products from wood, while making sure that the construction makes a huge input to the immediate surroundings and the environment.

Other mechanical concepts consist of high competency filters and low cost modes for the Air Handling Units, inconstant motion rate drives for plungers and compressors with lower than fifteen horse power rate.

Summary Assessments

With the birth of this new major library, for both the Bronx denizens in the United States and even the neighboring areas, the designer’s support for the environment comes out clear. The designer has a sense of keeping the environment safe from destruction and making it a place that is worthwhile for human life. The numerous environmental factors in place like, the crushing glass on the principal face of the building and the application of natural sunlight provide the library with an inviting aura and sits comfortably with the nearly seven Hundred Thousand people. The beautifully structured library can only be referred simply as straight thinking by the Library designers at the Public library in New York. It is the most essential structure adored in the region.

The most appealing feature in the work consisted of the eighty percent lower rate of energy, which is way below the standard marks of (90.1) ninety points one base line. The second attracting thing includes the recycling process of the demolished buildings and selling of some materials to scrap workers in the area to offset the demolition’s bills. By so doing, the architects made a big imposing to the greener environment achievements that every person in the locality enjoys.

Open the windows and allow the lights to fill inside. This should be the tag line for this library. This illumination filled facility creates a dynamic junction for the undeserving locals. The Library looks great in both interior and exterior. The modern technologies in the library bring about a feeling of belonging. It leaves one to wonder why most libraries, in various parts of the world, are designed in a somber and mournful environment. It also gives an explanation for various research activities going on in New York.

Well, most readers do not mind the achievements of the day little features, which outshine the qualities of a subtle sustainability project, because, the surrounding community care much about the provision of the resource and consider the high operations sustainable facility unnecessary. Most of the visitors admit the point that, no other library in the United States of America is as welcoming as the Bronx Library Center. This is most especially because of the radical light encompassing feeling.

This kind of setting in these resources invites many young people inside and helps them stay out of trouble. This is very economical considering that most young people, who would have lost themselves in drugs abuse and engaging in immorality, would instead spend more time here and avoid such vices.

Finally, the U- factor of 0.39 on the glass is relatively less than many dual side windows. In the assembling procedure of joining different materials in buildings, the designers in this property allowed a proper use of coordination. The dimming impacts of the fluorescent lights on the mirrors on the corridors, come from the photocells mounted on the ceiling on each and every floor. This creates an ambiance of comfort to the visitors. To increase brightness of the interior of the building during the day time, a scheme light on almost seventy percent of the open spaces  provide a higher lighting capacity unlike the lower density of energy density of 1.3 mega watts per square.

One appreciates the whole setting of the library designer’s idea of giving back to the environment, while offering every person irrespective of age, race and sex, a chance to access the facilities provided in this public library. The design has many sustainable factors including mighty performance shade walls providing broader sunlight efficient energy and good control systems. It is in this place where the needs of the entire population are met.

The project used paints and adhesives with minimal carbon emission components to the surroundings.  For finishing purposes, the less finishes contributes to the consistency leading to numerous floors. The architects used the common materials for the building to create a feeling of recognition with the visitors.