Library at Upham’s Corner:
A library with hybrid structural systems located in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston tasked with negotiating contradicting contexts.
(2022)
Elevation from Columbia Avenue
The Library at Upham’s Corner proposes a new cultural node in the vibrant Dorchester neighborhood south of downtown Boston, addressing converging conditions at the scales of site, object, and material. Tectonic and cladding qualities allow the project to negotiate contrasting site conditions: the bustling hardscape of Columbia Avenue to the west and the solemn greenscape of Dorchester North Burying Ground to the south and east.
The ground plane becomes an urban filter, activated by the movement of people between street and cemetery, with concrete cores extending downwards from the mass above, marking entrance and communal spaces. Opaque objects and transparent sightlines organize circulation upwards into the library and through to the burying ground. The cores exist within a heavy timber grid, like headstones exist within the trees of the adjacent cemetery. Both heavy timber and concrete cooperate in the hybrid structural system.
Top Left: Ensemble of Objects on Site
Bottom Left: Sectional Parti negotiating Neighboring Firehouse and Restaurant
Ensemble of Objects: Headstone to Building Core
Library situated in Context
Top: Early Conceptual Collage - Cores and Ground Plane
Bottom: Structural Model - Cores in Timber Frame
Explorations of Core Placement in Timber Column Grid
Approach from Columbia Avenue
Building Section through Primary Circulation Cores
Roof Level
Mezzanine Level (Children’s Section)
First Floor
Ground Level
Cores within Timber Frame
Key Structural Intersections - Top: Beam to Column Connection, Left: Beam to Core, Right, Column to Ground
A green wall faces to the south, softening the transition between object and site and utilizing the southern summer wind for evaporative cooling benefits. Intimate reading nooks extend from the western facade as interstitial spaces clad in slate as a material connection to headstone objects on the site, encouraging personal study and contemplation.
Southern Approach from Cemetery
Chunk Model - Building Mass Meets Core, Timber Frame informs Shelving informs Reading Nook informs Facade
Detail Section, Elevation, Plan of Nook-Facade Condition
Slate Clad Reading Nooks