Introduction to Hunt Library.
I did my graduate studies in the Master of Architecture program at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. I began in 2023, taking an adventurous step to leave India and come to the USA for my master’s degree. This journey was not just a roller coaster; it gave me a new lens to see beautiful structures around me. One of these was our favorite place to hang out, gossip, study, and catch up—the Hunt Library at the Centennial campus of NC State University.
The library was designed by Snohetta Architects, a global transdisciplinary firm, and completed in 2013. Spanning 2 million square feet of construction, this library exemplifies modern, sleek architecture with excellent use of color, light, and the creation of informal, third spaces.
Design Philosophy
In simple terms, the architect describes it as “a technology-forward learning space.” The library acts as a social platform, offering students, faculty, researchers, and learners a place to adapt to new technologies together and build the future of technology through communal learning. It creates sophisticated spaces where, under one roof, all users have equal access to technology and learning.
The library has a Book Bot robotic system, which gives access to millions of library books with just one touch of a search. And that, I believe, lies in the very core of Tech Integrated resources space. The books are sorted with a barcode and stored in much smaller spaces than traditional library spaces to promote optimization of resources.
The Design lies in the idea of providing “Disruptive colorful learning spaces” with the use of pop-up-like furniture next to a very traditional library system of a big hall, and the bookshelves and all the seating spaces. By that, the design is creating moments to interact and celebrate the existence in both the spaces and the very physicality of the user. By creating an indication of yellow painted walls for Restroom directions to navigate to create moments of sudden encounters in historic and modern learning spaces.
Materiality
The structure is a regular steel construction on a concrete foundation, but what makes it unique is its different sustainable exterior and interior strategies and the façade designer to keep the highest sustainable goals in mind. The building skin is a high-performance curtain wall with fritted glass to improve thermal insulation and reduce solar radiation in the interior rooms. To achieve more sustainability goals in terms of carbon emissions from cladding, Fiber C panels were used to clad the exterior and interior of some lobbies.
The walls are painted with gypsum board and acoustic panels for better insulation, and the ceilings are acoustic to support and control more environmental effects. The wooden staircase is the highlight of the library for me as it pops up with bright yellow color with a while backdrop, which gives a sense of direction and physicality of the space we stand under.
Sustainability
Apart from being LEED Silver Certified, it promotes a bunch of other strategies that make it unique. Most of the material from the carpet and the countertops is made from recycled content to promote more reusability, and roof-mounted solar panels produce the domestic hot water by generating energy. The beautiful integration of the outer landscape with the internal building system and design makes it a strong case of a durable and nature-integrated building system. It uses Green Roofs and exterior landscape for stormwater management, and it is like a whole independent entity of energy generation.
The library is not just a space where we create a lot of memories while hanging out, studying, or finding those niche spaces that suit us, but it is also a building, a living body, that not only accommodates the personal needs of every unique user, but it also celebrates the uniqueness of all. Whether it is the beautiful exterior facade, to poppy interior spaces, to huge traditional learning spaces, or to digital media spaces, we all have a spot there. It is a true testament of Inclusive and Sustainable design.
References and Citations:
https://www.archdaily.com/354701/hunt-library-snohetta
https://www.dezeen.com/2013/04/03/james-b-hunt-jr-library-by-snohetta/
https://www.markherboth.com/Projects/James-B%26period;-Hunt-Library/2
