PROJECT  A 15 Year Library for 10,000 Books

ARCHITECT  McInturff Architects

LOCATION  Potomac, Maryland, US​

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  7/20/2020

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Mark McInturff FAIA, David Mogensen AIA, Peter Noonan AIA
OWNER/CLIENT 
CONTRACTOR/CONSTRUCTION MANAGER  Added Dimensions Inc / Alan Kanner
PHOTOGRAPHER  Anice Hoachlander Julia Heine
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
CIVIL ENGINEER 
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER  Robert Neubauer / Neubauer Consulting Engineers
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SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT  
This house was designed and intended to be built in two stages, with over a decade between.

The first stage included all the typical spaces for family life — living, dining, kitchen and bedrooms. The second is a library for 10,000 books.

This three story room occupies the center pavilion of the finished three-pavilion house and was left as a clean dark shell in the first build, while the family lived around it in anticipation of, and during the planning for, the second stage.

Now, a carefully detailed and constructed three-level library opens to views over the Potomac River below.

The first two levels of the library open and connect directly to the main spaces of the house, completing the original design and providing formal living and dining spaces .

Floating above all this, accessed by a two-story spiral stair, is a glass-floored suspended aerie. Used as a reading space by the owners, the aerie accesses a small outside balcony, floating 30 feet above the ground.

Steel windows and mahogany casework extend the existing palette of the house, with lighting and HVAC integrated into and on the shelving.

After over a decade of design and construction, the centerpiece of the project is complete, and the house finally made whole.

Patience indeed has its virtues.

JURY COMMENTS (If applicable)

The jury felt the positioning of the full-height double-storied library at the core of the house establishing a relationship between the plan of the house and the collection was a strong move. The delicate gestures of spiral stair leads and private reading area in glass and steel contrasted beautifully the warmth of the library in these spaces.

IMAGES (Captions and Photographer Credit)
1. A three story library resolves in a floating glass reading aerie / Anice Hoachlander
2. A three story library fills the center bay and becomes the heart of the house / Anice Hoachlander
3. A three story library resolves in a floating glass reading aerie / Anice Hoachlander
4. View up of aerie through glass floor / Anice Hoachlander
5. A spiral stair connects all three levels / Anice Hoachlander
6. Seating flanks fireplaces on two levels / Anice Hoachlander
7. The second level of the library viewed from the entry / Anice Hoachlander
8. Two levels of books with glass aerie above / Anice Hoachlander