Tech Library: A Model for Tomorrow
Presentation of the Basic Design
Overall
Furniture
Carrels and chairs are old, dingy and unappealing. The “Two Person Double Face Table Carrels” from furniture series “Antrim” by Agati are suggested for use throughout the library. Each carrel can be set up in a back-to-back fashion, allowing individual study space with full side and top enclosures ensuring privacy. Two Wilkhahn Modus basic stackable chairs with black cushions, manufactured by Steelcase, can be paired with these carrels. Laptop carrels along the walls will have power outlets and data ports for use.
To prevent this underutilization of table space, smaller four-person tables from the “Antrim” series by Agati should be used to replace the large eight person tables. Using smaller tables would give groups and individuals more flexibility and more options in choosing where to sit and study, according to their personal comfort level.
Figure 6: Agati Four-Person Table
It was determined that a mix of upward and downward lighting will create good work lighting. Energos Light Fixture by Lightolier creates 71% upward lighting and 29% downward lighting. Lightolier also provides consultants to help with the installation of their light fixtures (See Appendix Y). Bulb types and fixtures will be changed in order to create a less tinted, more full-spectrum illumination of the library (See Appendix J).
Figure 7: Energos Light Fixture
Fifteen minutes before the library closes, the librarian walks around the whole facility to inform every student. The Main Library has an intercom system that announces a fifteen minute warning before closing to the entire library to check out books and to move to CORE and also announces a CORE closing reminder. Since the library will feature an area for extended hours similar to the Main Library’s CORE, it is recommended that an intercom system be installed. The BellCommander by AcroVista Software can be downloaded onto a computer and programmed to play any standard audio file at a set time daily. The system also allows multiple zones to be created and different audio messages to be sent to different floors at the same time. In addition to the software, speakers and sound cards also need to be purchased to implement a full intercom system. An intercom system is a basic feature that requires little capital or maintenance. Since the library will feature state-of-art technology it does not make sense to leave our standard technology.
Group Study RoomsThe library currently has only four, rarely used small group study rooms located on the ground and top floors. Each room will be updated to be more group-friendly, replacing the furniture and adding more tools, including a computer and Smartboard. A four-person oval table and ergonomic chairs are ideal furniture choices. More group study rooms will also be built on the main floor (see section below).
Staff Lounge
The staff lounge, currently located on the ground floor, is unsatisfactory to most of the library staff. The new lounge will be moved from the southeast corner of the ground floor to the southwest corner of the top floor. The relocation will increase the lounge’s size and provide it with central heating and a window overlooking the plaza behind Tech. The space will also be updated with new appliances, furniture, and cabinetry. The area where the staff lounge formerly existed will be used for storage of bound journal books, currently found on the top floor.
Although not a direct design issue, keeping the main floor of the library open until at least 2:00 A.M, like the Core Collection in the main library, is suggested for Sundays through Thursdays. During peak usage hours, reading and final weeks, the main floor should remain open for 24 hours a day. During these two weeks, the ground and top floors will be closed by locking stairwell doors and turning off the elevator. A library employee will be on staff during the 24 hour period to ensure the security of the computers in the info commons area.
Circulation Desk
The circulation desk and adjoining offices will be moved from their current location to the library entrance, freeing up a significant amount of space for study carrels and computers. In addition to creating more floor space that students can utilize, the new location of the circulation desk will create more formalized entrance and exit corridors into and out of the library.
Figure
8: Circulation Desk
The current number of public access computers on the main floor is inadequate. In response to survey results and recommendations, the number of public access computers will be increased from 21 to 54 (See Appendix N). The computers will be installed in individual carrels similar in size to the current carrels, as well as in larger angled desks (Appendix O) that provide additional room for study materials.
To accompany the increase in computers, a technical support desk will be constructed near the current location of the circulation desk, similar to the desk in the info commons area of the main library. This will provide support to computer users requiring technical expertise, as well as freeing up the employees at the circulation desk.
Separating Group from Individual Study Areas
The layout of the main floor was redesigned to address the concern of providing a quiet study section and group work areas where conversation will not distract anyone. The northwest section of the library contains group study tables and computer carrels which will be used by students who need to collaborate with others. The center area past the circulation desk is intended for quieter computer use, and contains predominantly angled computer desks. The east section is intended for quiet study, with smaller tables in the northeast section and individual study carrels in the southeast section.
Relocating Books
Relocating books and journals to other floors is necessary to free up space for the new design objectives of the main floor, which are primarily group work, computer use, and individual study. Works that are available or will soon be available online can be moved to storage, and the journals on the main floor can be moved to the location of the current staff lounge on the ground floor. The reference materials are used fairly often by staff and students so they will remain on the main floor, but will be relocated to the south of the angled computer desks.
Group Work Rooms
There are no group work rooms on the main floor. Group study areas are desirable and sought out all over campus, especially for students in Tech. As previously stated, the library has a total of four small group rooms, none of which are on the main floor. These rooms are equipped only with tables and chairs, and do not have the necessary items to make for effective group collaboration areas. The new design includes six enclosed group rooms along the west wall of the main floor. In addition to group tables, each room is equipped with collaboration tools such as a SmartBoard, a computer, and a large wall-mounted monitor. In addition, four group tables are set in the north part of the main floor with movable partitions in between them. These allow for privacy if desired, but also for collaboration if necessary.
Copy Room
The copy room is currently poorly designed and underutilized. The “rotated squares” design yields an awkwardly shaped triangular room now used as the copy room. There are also other machines (copiers, microfiche) that should be housed in this room, but cannot be due to lack of space. In the new design, a larger rectangular copy room on the main floor will house grayscale and color copiers, printers, and a new microfiche machine.
Lounge Area
The new design expands this lobby area to create a student lounge and café area. This will also provide an indoor connection between Cook Hall and Tech Library. The lounge and café will extend to the outside patio space without affecting the current structure of the patio or any part of the back deck of Tech.
Video Conferencing
One available implementation of technology that is currently not seen widely on campus is video conferencing capabilities. A major theme of the main floor renovations is encouraging collaboration and making group work as easy as possible, and adding built-in video conferencing equipment will help with collaborative efforts when meeting in person is not an option. Equipment will be installed at first in the staff conference room and virtual classroom. Staff will benefit from this by being able to conduct cross-library and even cross-campus meetings, provided that other libraries have appropriate equipment. The virtual classroom will also be equipped with video conferencing capabilities to allow professors to easily hold special lectures with outside speakers, and also so that students may reserve the space for any of their group work video conferencing needs. If response from students and staff is good and it is seen that demand for video conferencing space is high, and as video conferencing becomes a more widely used technology by home computer users, a next step will be to add these capabilities to the six group study rooms located at the west of the main floor.
Group Work Rooms
Wireless Internet Access
Group work rooms are underutilized. (See same problem and solution under “Ground Floor.”)
Wireless network access is spotty in parts of the library, and this is particularly true on the top floor. An ever-increasing number of students use laptops while studying or participating in group work, and the library needs to have wireless network access available everywhere. To ensure this, the number of wireless hubs/antennas in the library should be increased so that coverage is robust throughout the building.
Accompanying the physical renovation of the library is an upgrade to the existing technological capabilities. The most noticeable change is the expanded Info Commons area, with new computers containing specialized software for a variety of majors. Three main groups of computers exist in the new design, and each group of computers should be tailored to the needs of a different group of majors. Software relevant to every engineering discipline would be installed in one of the three main groups of computers. Including software for all majors for every computer requires too much memory space and would slow computer speed. For example, one of the areas will contain software for Industrial, Civil and Electrical Engineering. The computers in that area will be equipped with programs such as Arena, AMPL, Minitab, @Risk to fit the needs of Industrial Engineering students, AutoCAD and Mathematica for Civil Engineering students and PSpice, Linux, and C++ for Electrical Engineering students. Each computer area will be labeled so that students know which area is equipped with the software they need. Programs like Matlab, which is used widely across all engineering majors, will be included in the three areas. This provides more options for places to do work than just their departments’ specific computer labs.
In addition to the new individual computers, “smart” boards should be added to each group work room. This technology will aid in group assignments and presentation-based needs of students.
Many students study with laptops as well as library computers, indicating a need for better wireless internet and power capabilities. In response to this, wireless connectivity throughout all three floors should be improved, and all individual study carrels should be equipped with power outlets so that students do not need to worry about their batteries dying during a work session.
Depending on the available resources for the renovation, additional, more advanced technology features could be implemented: video conferencing and a live video tunnel. Video conferencing would be a useful tool in the virtual classroom or group rooms for anyone interested in meeting with people in different locations. A live video tunnel is essentially a constantly active video conference, ideally between the main library and tech library. A large screen shows real time video and audio of a location in the main library, which would have the same benefits as a traditional video conference, differing only in that it is constantly active.
Creating a library that looks and feels modern was a priority from the beginning of the project. Existing furniture, lighting, and carpeting were all identified as being unsatisfactory, and replacing them will create the desired feel of a revamped library for the new generation.
The old, dull looking wooden furniture will be replaced with glass and steel themed, professional looking carrels and tables. Ergonomic chairs will be used in the info commons area and in group rooms, adding to the professional look. All furniture and chairs, in addition to being glass and steel themed, will be purchased from only a few vendors to ensure a cohesive look. The furniture in the café area outside the library will also be replaced to coincide with the professional theme, including couches and ottomans (See Appendix L).
Poor lighting was stated as a concern for students who use tech library, so a new lighting scheme will replace the dimmer, non-aesthetically appealing design that currently exists. Because of the desire for a sleek and modern looking library, the current lighting will be replaced with smooth, curved metallic fixtures. The lighting will remain fluorescent, but new technology will increase brightness while abiding by Northwestern’s requirement for energy conservation.
New carpet and paint that complements the colors of the furniture will also be implemented. This is mainly to provide a cleaner and fresher look, as the existing carpet and paint job are very dated.
The current windows in Tech Library are moldy and distractingly dirty. There is permanent condensation built in between the panes. We have spoken with facilities management about possibly removing the windows and having them cleaned. this however is not a feasible solution because cleaning the windows would require much time and effort. First the panes would have to be separated and individually cleaned. Then panes would have to be resealed together. This hassle is both impractical and prohibitively expensive.
In light of the facts, we recommend that all the windows should be replaced with ones by the TRACO Company. Its windows use leading technology to stay abreast of building codes and anticipated environmental codes.
Northwestern winters can be extremely cold. To combat this flux in temperature, TRACO has developed an Energy Spacer that uses a non-metallic seal to provide optimal thermal insulation. These windows are resistant to moisture and gas loss and tolerate high wind loads.
The thermal barrier technology is produced with glass reinforced nylon 6/6 to provide superior strength and structural integrity. These windows restrict heat transfer to lower energy costs and are more environmentally friendly.
Using these windows will just be one more way that Tech Library will be a model for the future.
Ground Floor (See Appendix M1)
The structural changes made to the ground floor include building a triangular copy room located directly to the north of the stairwell and knocking down the walls of the current staff lounge location. Centrally located on the floor are individual study carrels. Northeast of these carrels will be a lounge area comprising of four sets of connected chairs with an ottoman that face the windows.
The moveable shelving stacks remain in place, with the addition of one extra stacking section in place of the old faculty lounge (southeast corner).
Both private rooms in the northwest corner have been converted into study rooms with updated furniture and a computer terminal.The remaining space on the floor is dedicated to small (54” square) study tables for individual or quiet group work. In addition, the map desk is now located between the moveable stacks on the southern end of the floor.
Main Floor (See Appendix M2)
A major change to the main floor is the patio outside of the main entrance. It has been converted to a café lounge. The approximately 1500 square foot area is enclosed in a half glass wall (glass above waist high) that borders the entrance hallways from both the Tech building and Cook hall. The entrances to the lounge are located at the northeast and southeast corners. Furniture in the lounge is from the Steelcase Bix collection.
Figure 9: Lounge Furniture
Across from the lounge, the entrance to the library is the south door, and the exit is the north door. Both the entrance and exit have one regular turnstile, and one handicapped accessible turnstile. The circulation desk faces towards the info commons (to the east), and is adjacent (to the east) to the circulation room. Connected to the circulation room (to the east) is a small area for office space.
The info commons area is centrally located, and is comprised of seven 3-way computer carrels (see Figure 9). A technology help desk is centrally located within the info commons for easy access. In the southwest corner of the info commons is a new 400 square foot copy room. Next to the copy room is the newly located reference and journal area. Directly to the east of the info commons are two sets of five small (54” square) study tables, and in the southeast corner there are 15 individual study carrels (30 person capacity).
Figure 10: Three Pack Carrels
The entire northwest section of this floor is reserved for group work. There are six six-person tables, and two four-person tables. In addition, the west side of the group work section is divided into six 150 square foot private study rooms, with the east walls being glass. Each private room has one four-person table (see Figure 11), as well as one computer terminal with a chair. Each of these group rooms has a 42” plasma screen mounted on the wall connected to the computer. 17 individual laptop carrels line the central stairwell and elevator shaft.
Figure 11. Group Work Table
The lounge area on the main floor is similar to the first floor, with four sets of lounges facing the windows.
The office space on the south side of the main floor has been redesigned to make more efficient use of the space. There are four 200 square foot offices, and four 160 square foot offices. To the east of the office space is a staff conference room with a 14 seat conference table and two computer terminals, and next to the conference room is a virtual classroom with a ten person conference table and 16 individual computer terminals.
A bulletin board will be displayed inside the west wall by the entrance. It will be enclosed in glass and will be used for library announcements. A general bulletin board will be outside of the lounge area.
The Astrahan display will be encased in glass within the wall of the north wall of the copy room. In addition, space will be allotted for the Astrahan Information Center and Cole-Higgins Reference Room signs.
Top Floor (See Appendix M3)
The only structural change to the top floor is the relocation of the staff lounge to the southwest corner. The two private rooms on the north side have been converted to private study rooms as was done on the ground floor. The private study room on the south side has been converted to a small copy room.Both northeast corners have five small (54” square) study tables, and the central area is filled with 18 individual study carrels (36 person capacity, see Figure 10).
Figure 12: Study Carrel
The areas between the individual carrels and the north and east corners each have a three-way computer carrel, and the outer walls are lined with seven individual study carrels each.
The window lounge area is the same as on the second floor, with four sets of connected chairs with an ottoman. The remaining space on the floor is filled with bookshelves.
Evanston Building Codes
As with any major renovation, the building must be brought up to codes of both the ordinance and state. These codes are broken up into building, fire prevention, mechanical/plumbing, and electrical (See Appendix U). The codes that are of concern for this renovation are plumbing and fire prevention.
Part 890 of the Illinois Plumbing Code states that there is a minimum number of toilets and urinals required to be in Tech library, especially with the added number of seats in the recommended design. For men’s restrooms, the code calls for one toilet per 25 patrons and one urinal per every 50. For women’s restrooms, there needs to be one toilet per 20 patrons. These codes result in additional bathroom space being necessary for the renovation.
On the ground and top floors, on additional toilet is needed for the women’s restroom, making a total of three toilets. In the men’s restroom, one urinal must be added, making a total of two urinals and one toilet.
On the main floor, new restrooms will be created for both men and women in order to satisfy code requirements. The women’s restroom must have seven toilets, one of which is handicap accessible. The men’s restroom must have three urinals and five toilets, one of which is handicap accessible. Each restroom must also have three sinks.
The following tables summarize the minimum plumbing fixture requirements for Tech Library as dictated by Illinois Plumbing Codes.
Table 1: Ground Floor Plumbing Fixtures Requirements (111 seats)
| Toilets | Urinals | Sinks | |
| Male | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Female | 3 | 2 |
Table 2: Main Floor Plumbing Fixtures Requirements (250 seats)
| Toilets | Urinals | Sinks | |
| Male | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Female | 7 | 3 |
Table 3: Top Floor Plumbing Fixtures Requirements (116 seats)
| Toilets | Urinals | Sinks | |
| Male | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Female | 7 | 3 |
Back to Table of ContentsCreating a safe working space entails meeting proper fire safety codes. As is, the library has adequate fire exits for all floors. The major addition that needs to be made during the renovation is an automatic sprinkler system. This system will be segmented so that only the isolated areas where the fire is will activate to avoid needless water damage to books in other areas.
- Ground Floor
Group Study Rooms
No major electrical changes are necessary here; amply power supply is available in both group study rooms. If additional equipment is installed that does require a dedicated outlet, conduits should originate from the main electrical closet on the second floor, run through the ceiling of the first floor and come down in the desired locations.
- Main Floor
Circulation Desk/Circulation RoomNew cables will be necessary to provide electricity and network access for the circulation desk and adjacent offices. These cables will come from the main electrical closet located besides the elevator.
In the new info commons area, the conduits run throughout the basement floor and go up at desired areas (for computer use, etc.). It should not be difficult to wire this area, given the current wiring in place at Tech Library. Every carrel, as well as the Help Desk, will be equipped with two power outlets.
In the southeast part of the library, located between the copy/printer room and the bathrooms, the wiring for the power supplied in this location will come from the ceiling, using the current wiring implementation. This is to take advantage of the wiring in place and minimize cost inefficiencies.
The three groups of carrels ( located on the southern, western and northern walls) will require new conduits, which are to originate from the main electrical closet. The conduits will have to be introduced to have several outlets, as the carrels will need electricity and data outlets for several computers that will be located in this area.
Office Space/Staff Conference Room/ Virtual Classroom
In this area, the four conduits are currently located in the walls. The wiring will be done through these access points, but more conduits and access points may need to be installed to make sure each office is equipped with enough outlets. Every room will be equipped with three outlets. The virtual classroom will need more outlets, but in this area outlets come from ceiling, and should not be difficult to add more if necessary.
Group Study Rooms
In the group study rooms, there will be two sets of outlets: one outlet for each computer in each room, and another outlet for general use. There are conduits in the walls in this area, and we will be able to use the current infrastructure to adapt it in providing power to the rooms.
Lounge
The lounge will be wired by way of connecting it to the main electrical closet. Conduits will be added to connect these two areas and the lounge will be equipped with several outlet points (for student use), as well as power to run any equipment installed in this area (vending machines, coffee machines).- Top Floor
Group Study Rooms/Copy Room
Infrastructure is already in place, so no outlets will have to be added in these areas.
Study area
Wiring in this area will be made possible by originating conduits from the main electrical closet. They will run across the floor of the third level, and wiring will be placed at any desired location in this area.
- General Considerations:
The following details should be considered when wiring Tech Library:
-- The floor at Tech library is very thin, and thus the bends are very tight. New conduits would be very beneficial, since they could avoid space problems with the cables (which is currently the case).
-- It is very important to preserve the main electrical closet (located besides the elevator), since it is the center of the electrical system. It is necessary to enlarge the closet, and provide considerable more space for it.
Fore more details refer to Appendix N.
