Beaverton City Library

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	Beaverton City Library
Designer	Thomas Hacker Architects Inc. (THA) , Portland, Oregon, USA , AIA
Location	Beaverton, Oregon, USA
Date
Building Type	Library
Construction System	Wood & concrete structure; brick, concrete, glass cladding.
Climate	Moderate
Context	Urban park
Architectural Style	Regional Modern
Builder	Drake Construction
Street Address	12375 SW 5th Street
Notes

1 Images
2 Discussion
3 External Links

[edit] Images

Exterior overview, main entry & plaza.	Exterior overview, main entry & plaza.	Exterior overview, main entry facade.	Foyer.
Main room.	Perimiter circulation space within main room.

[edit] Discussion

The simple brick and glass exterior of this building, though well-proportioned and detailed to emphasize the beauty of the building materials, offers no clues about the building's lively interior.

The main room of this library lies on the second floor and is accessed via two stairs that enclose a ceremonial, wood-paneled reading room, elevated several steps above the ground floor level. The rectangular main room is enclosed and buffered on its four sides by circulation and secondary activity spaces.

The most unique feature of this library is the "forest" of columns in the main room, each composed of four curved glu-lam beams which in turn support a wood ceiling whose members overlap to give the effect of a tree canopy. Widely spaced skylights and a continuous band of light monitors provide steady, filtered light, further evoking the feeling of standing in a forest. The arrangement of the columns, together with the extensive use of local wood both as strucutral and finish materials recall not only expansive forests of the Pacific Northwest but also the region's strong historical connection with the timber industry.

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