Keast & Hood first gained experience with Haverford’s Lutnick Library while serving as the structural engineer for the building’s master plan in 2013. An amalgamation of four different structures, the library no longer efficiently serves the school or its students effectively. ..

Keast & Hood first gained experience with Haverford’s Lutnick Library while serving as the structural engineer for the building’s master plan in 2013. An amalgamation of four different structures, the library no longer efficiently serves the school or its students effectively.

Following a study of the building, Keast & Hood was retained to provide structural design for the renovation and addition. The original L-shaped library was constructed in 1860 with additions in 1890, 1912, 1941, 1951 and 1967. The most historic of the grouping is the 1890’s portion which was retained in the new design. Selective demolition removed the 1940’s and portions of the 1960’s buildings with a new addition infill.

The new design focuses on a more efficient spatial configuration and circulation while featuring the historic 1890’s building. Project scope included design for a new feature stair, elevator, and clerestory which brings natural light into the space utilizing glulam arches. Structural scope was complicated by tight floor-to-floor ratios. To match the existing floor elevations, the structure utilized concrete flat slab construction. Engineers also maximized column spacing (at 22 feet on center) for open floor layouts. Additional design features include large skylights, existing building upgrades, landscape upgrades, design for mobile book stacks and a new basement addition.

CLIENT: Perry Dean Rodgers
LOCATION: Haverford, PA

TYPE: Academic, Library, SERVICES: Adaptive Reuse, Addition, Renovation, MATERIALS: SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Final Photography © Chuck Choi Photography