unlv library

Lied Library

Las Vegas

LIBpp90-101:Layout 1 3/4/09 5:48 PM

A New Paradigm

No longer programmed to be a place of hushed silence, today’s university library often

serves as a dynamic campus gathering spot for students, faculty, and staff. In this new par-

adigm, the library not only offers ready access to knowledge and information but also

accommodates contemporary student learning and living styles with sophisticated elec-

tronic information access, comfortable seating, and extended hours of operation. When

the Lied Library on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s -acre (-ha) main campus

opened in , it was hailed as just such a facility—both a superbly functional library

and a new campus social hub.

Site Signi f icance

Centrally located on a corner site and across from the main classroom complex, the

,-sq.-ft. (,-sq-m) library is easily reached by anyone in the university com-

munity as well as by the general public. Shaded exterior meeting places along the curved

southeast corner of the building provide generous seating and places of respite for passers-

by. UNLV’s current master plan reflects the library’s importance by organizing all future

building zones and campus growth around this core facility.

Information Commons

Pivotal to L A D’ design concept is the creation of a central “Information

Commons”—a grand five-story-high atrium surmounted by a curved roof of exposed steel

trusses and metal decking. Beneath this roof of revealed construction, library patrons can

work at computers that are grouped in cherry-clad media stations arranged under curved,

perforated metal canopies that echo the roof and define the individual workplaces. On the

north and west sides of this dynamic, light-filled spatial nexus are staff stations, work areas,

Lied Library

Univers ity of Nevada, Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

LIBpp90-101:Layout 1 3/4/09 5:48 PM Page 90

91


L A S V E GA S

92

and reference facilities, along with a variety of

reading spaces and stacks for books and peri-

odicals. Wayfinding to these essential functions

is both efficient and spatially enriching.

The southern side of the atrium features a

two-story-high transparent glass wall that

showcases the library’s innovative book storage

and retrieval system, a robotic mechanism

capable of finding and delivering a given book

to the circulation desk in fewer than six min-

utes. The automated system—the third one

installed in the United States at the time of the

building’s construction—provides efficient

space-saving storage for less frequently used

books and is capable of accommodating .

million volumes when fully expanded. In con-

junction with traditional open-stack shelving,

this fully mechanized system ultimately

enables the library to store a total of million

volumes without the need for building expan-

sion. The two-story-high supporting frame-

work of bright blue steel, the perfectly ordered

stacked storage bins of white, and the precise,

rapid movements of the mobile yellow crane

together form a large kinetic sculpture on view

to all within the Commons.


L I E D L I B R A R Y

93

Ground floor plan Third floor plan


L A S V E GA S

94

Massing

Lied Library’s exterior massing is the result of a

design strategy that treats key programmatic

functions as distinct components in both plan

and elevation. Curved roof and wall profiles of

differing radii and size recall the geometries of

several existing campus buildings yet produce a

uniquely identifiable structure.

Exter ior Mater ia ls

Exterior materials—essentially limited to con-

crete masonry, metal, and glass—reinforce the

building’s varied massing and introduce differ-

ing scales of visual texture. Split-face concrete

masonry units echo the exteriors of several

newer buildings on campus, provide a rich tex-

tural quality when struck by the sun, and wed

the building to its site. Large lightweight zinc

panels, laid in an offset joint pattern, produce

a reflective skin that seems to float above heav-

ier concrete units used where the building

meets the ground. Glass is featured either as

large wall planes for maximum transparency or

as small punched openings in walls that are pri-

marily solid surfaces.



95


L A S V E GA S

96

Interior Profi les

The building’s interior also consists of expres-

sive profiles and varied surface textures. For

example, to avoid large expanses of painted dry-

wall, canted wood panels of contrasting color,

stainless steel railings, and limited surfaces of

split-face concrete block introduce wall compo-

sitions of visual richness and tactile variety.

An internal circulation spine connecting

the two main entrances, on the north and east

sides, forms a diagonal axis through the build-

ing. Major vertical elements consisting of

stairs, elevators, and escalators are located

along this route, as are the central circulation

desk, a -seat, -hour study café, and a uni-

versity teaching/learning center.

Environmental Response

Programmatic functions are arranged in direct

response to the environmental forces of the

desert climate that characterizes the site.

Functions that need little or no natural light—

such as workrooms, the book storage wing,

and media resources—are placed on the south

or west sides of the site, with only small win-

dows to minimize insolation and therefore



97

LIBpp90-101:Layout 1 3/4/09 5:48 PM 7

L A S V E GA S

98

cooling requirements. North-facing reading

areas on the upper two floors are accessed by

passing through open stacks and enjoy unim-

peded vistas of the distant horizon through

generous window walls. By arranging these

spaces along a gentle curve and segmenting

them into smaller reticulated spatial units,

these reading bays assuage the scale of the

north wall and produce a visual rhythm in

counterpoint to the lower solid walls of the

building. Perforated metal screens projecting

from the space between these bays bounce sun-

light to the interior and provide additional sur-

face articulation to this long metal-clad wall.

On the east façade, additional projecting sun-

screens offer effective sun control, their result-

ing shadow patterns constantly shifting with

the diurnal path of the sun.

Dayl ight Harvest ing

The building owes much of its highly sculptur-

al quality to the harvesting of daylight both to

reduce energy costs and to provide the interior

with varying levels of natural and reflected sun-

light, whether from the sunscreened glazing of

the east façade or from upper-level clerestories.



99


L A S V E GA S

100

Extensive computer modeling during the

design phase has allowed changing daylight

conditions to be electronically monitored and

accommodated. In addition, all interior light-

ing is designed to furnish appropriate light lev-

els for computer use.

Campus Icon

Intended to serve as a center of knowledge and

learning for the next years, the building has

been designed with integrated power and data

systems to accommodate the inevitable chang-

es the future will demand. In keeping with the

traditional role of this building type on the

American university campus, Lied Library is a

dramatic signature building for the Univer-sity

of Nevada, Las Vegas—one that combines a

technologically adaptable and flexible environ-

ment with generous and welcoming areas for

study and social activity.


unlv library

Documents

pm page 9091libpp90

storyhigh atrium

library patrons canwork

dynamic campus

university of nevada

librarys importance

information commonspivotal

campus growth