Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library was conceived of as part of a new development for a growing midwestern city. The vision for the development was to model a traditional town square. As such, it was important that the new building strike the appropriate civic tone. The design modernizes traditional proportion, massing and materials that lend a sense of endurance and permanence.
On axis with the commercial district and water features, the library anchors the town square. A two-story open lobby visually and physically connects interior and exterior, while also creating a space for community and civic events that can function in support of the library and meeting rooms.
The southwest-facing building’s long, narrow bars drive daylight deep into the floor plates. Overhangs and vertical fabric sun-shades help to avoid direct sunlight at the open collection spaces inside. More solid or enclosed areas of the building were pushed to the northeast exposure. Saw-tooth rooftop light monitors strategically facing north allow indirect light to spill into the library at both levels through two-story atriums that run at a cross.
Second story bridges connect across the double-height public lobby. At the west end, stairs wrap around a children’s play area, where warm wood accents visually anchor the space. Similarly, city council chambers and public meeting rooms with the same wood finishes complete the east end. The asymmetric plan layout allows the possibility of a future wing to be added for City Hall that would balance the building layout.
Material Used:
• Facade cladding: Precast Concrete Panels, APC Advanced Precast Company
• Flooring:
• Carpet: Vertical Layers - Shaw Commercial Carpet, Cast in Place Terrazzo – No product/brand work was done by Des Moines Marble 7 Mantel Co.
• Luxury Vinyl Tile - Vertical Layers, Unveil - Shaw Contract, Ceramic Tile – Exhibition Series - Daltile,
• Windows: Exterior Aluminum Curtainwall, Reliance Wall - Oldcastle Building Envelope Interior Window Frames: Avalon International Aluminum
• Roofing: Single Ply membrane PVC Roofing – Versiflex – Versico Roofing Systems
• Interior lighting: Over 30 different lighting fixtures, most were provided by the following companies: Finelite, Lumenpulse, Focalpoint, Williams, Insight, Core, BEGA
• Interior furniture: Material type, Product, Brand – Many Products and Brands: Manufacturers included: Herman Miller, Knoll, Haworth, 3Branch, Allsteel, Bernhardt Design, Coalesse, Davis, Demco, Geiger, Gressco, Hightower, Keilhauer, Leland International, NorvaNivel, OFS, Peter Pepper Products, Sixinch, Turnstone
• Library Shelving Systems: Estey Shelving and LFI (Library Furniture International) Custom End Panels.
• Ceiling Products: Halcyon Logix and Mars Clima Plus by USG Ceiling Solutions
• Wood: Panels Custom made Quarter Sawn Cherry Veneer panels
