Overlooking Shoal Creek and Lady Bird Lake, the LEED Platinum Austin Central Library is a building shaped by light and designed to respond to the context of its place. Aspiring to be the most daylit public library in the nation, the heart of the building is the six-story atrium, which provides daylight for more than 80% of regularly occupied spaces. The unique rooftop butterfly garden and reading porches, inspired by Texans’ love for the outdoors, draw visitors to connect with nature. Serving as the western portal to downtown, the library is a technologically-rich, innovative community hub which establishes a culturally-sensitive, major civic presence and community gathering space in the heart of downtown.
Category: Technical Assistance
Vasché Library Renovations, Cal State Stanislaus, Turlock, CA — EHDD
The UW IDL performed a glare assessment for the newly renovated J. Burton Vasche Library on the Stanislaus State University campus in Turlock, California. A clerestory adjacent to the circulation desk was determined to be a potential source of glare for library staff, and the UW IDL worked with the design team to identify mitigation strategies, including strategically locating translucent glass in the clerestory and placing signage in a manner that shades and prevents glare from reaching stationary workstations.
St. Michael’s Medical Center Silverdale, WA — NBBJ
The UW IDL, in collaboration with NBBJ and SOLARC Energy Group, provided technical assistance on St. Michael’s Medical Center, a ne
w 144 bed (550,000 ft2 ) hospital in Silverdale, Washington, which opened in December 2020. With a stated goal of 135 kBtu/ft2 -yr in the RFP, its current energy performance is estimated to be 98 kBtu/ft2 -yr, saving over 5M kWh each year, making this hospital one of the most energy efficient designs in the US today. The project has been approved for a Puget Sound Energy conservation rebate of over $1,500,000. The UW IDL’s scope included energy evaluation, goal setting, strategy development, energy modeling, WSEC compliance, and utility incentive modeling.
Louisiana Children’s Museum, New Orleans, LA — Mithun
IDL supported Mithun as a daylighting consultant for the project. The experience of light was core to the project: “The Reggio Emilia child development philosophy—a child-centered approach that emphasizes multisensory nature play—guided the design of experiential and haptic elements that cast changing shadows and inspire interactive rainwater engagement while providing energy reductions and stormwater utility.” The COTE Top-10 jury noted that “The design does everything: being a modern vernacular form that is spatially rich and meets the triple bottom line of social well-being, environmental health, and a just economy.”
Lick Wilmerding High School Renovations, San Francisco, CA — EHDD
IDL supported EHDD as a daylighting consultant for the project. Jury Comment from 2022 AIA COTE Top Ten Award: “This project beautifully demonstrates how you can restore and renovate existing buildings, taking existing structures and flipping them to be extroverted and embracing street culture. Lick-Wilmerding shows how historic buildings can be net zero; [these two things are] not mutually exclusive.