Hockessin Library Children's Reading Room

摘要

Bordered by a state road, a parking lot, wetlands, and a 100-year floodplain, the 15,000-square-foot Hockessin Public Library in New Castle, Del., didn't have much room to expand to meet the state's guideline of 25,000 square feet for branch libraries. So the design team at ikons Architects decided on a somewhat radical solution: cantilever out over the floodplain to increase square footage.rnThe cantilevered volume houses a glass-enclosed children's reading room, filled with soft seating and a bevy of kid's books ranging from Goodnight Moon to Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. The architects knew they wanted to glaze the exterior, to maximize views of the neighboring park, but also "didn't want to turn it into an oven," says ikons principal Joe Tattoni, so they turned to a custom ceramic frit to minimize heat gain.