Page 36 - spaces4learning, November/December 2019

spaces4learning BUILDING BLUEPRINTS
FOSTERING CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION
A new library transformed into a bright, energetic space to study and connect.
By Aimee Eckmann and Steven Turckes
WHEN ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS AT THE Shanghai American School envisioned a new library on their 29-acre Puxi campus, they saw an opportunity to create a highly interactive, technology-ready media center that would bring together middle and high school students to study and con- nect. The goal was to help students tell their stories, putting a premium on spaces for technology use, personal study, writing, reading and recording.
The two-story, multi-purpose Puxi Library is designed to foster creativity and collaboration across flexible study and meet- ing areas, preparing about 1,700 students for post-graduation success. The project was a collaboration between global architec- ture and design firm Perkins and Will and administrators and educators at the Shanghai American School.
Shanghai American School sought a hub with access to other campus areas, creating connectivity to the middle school art department and high school counseling center: two key resources in helping students express themselves and join with the larger
school community. These connections are central to the design of the 37,500-square-foot library: to light and nature, between floors, and, of course, among students in a variety of communal settings. A repositioned new entrance re-orients the library to other build- ings on campus, ensuring a more logical set of links. It provides
a new north entrance to the building, where previously there was none, placing the entry closest to natural flow of foot traffic. The exterior windows were enlarged to improve daylight and look out to a landscaped courtyard. Students can relax or study on cush- ioned benches at the base of these windows. Nature was brought inside with a green wall of hanging plants abutting a water feature integrated into a bleacher-style staircase. These features enhance feelings of serenity, mitigating stress and improving wellness.
Flexibility, movement, even a sense of fun are encouraged throughout the library. Rich natural colors offer visual cues to separate breakout and meeting areas. Intentional breakout areas are placed throughout: these include individual study nooks adjacent to the windows, and a semi-circular workspace framed
36 NOV/DEC 2019