Architects Show Building Design, Landscape Plan For New Library
Plan adds 30,000 square feet, 165 parking spaces
Terrace and cafe included
By Kara Chalmers
The architects who are designing Saratoga's new expanded and renovated library unveiled their plans for the building and the surrounding landscape at a meeting scheduled to gather final input from the public on Nov. 20.
The Saratoga Community Library will be renovated and expanded at its current location on the corner of Saratoga and Fruitvale avenues, thanks to a $15 million bond measure that Saratoga voters passed in March. Groundbreaking for construction of the new library is scheduled for August 2001.
The renovation will increase the size of the library building--which today is 18,000 square feet--to between 47,000 and 49,000 square feet. The design incorporates the current building, which the bond measure language mandates, but builds out from it on three sides, toward the intersection of Saratoga and Fruitvale avenues, as well as into the Heritage Orchard, in which the library sits. The old building will be renovated completely on the interior. No new rooflines will be higher than existing ones, and the whole structure will remain one-story.
The only driveway to the site will be off Saratoga Avenue. The parking lot will be on-grade and cars will be concentrated in a single lot, with a drop-off area across from the entrance and a short-term parking section.
There is parking for 95 cars at the site today, but the plans call for an increase to 165 total cars. Principal architect Mark Schatz' original recommendation was for 200 parking spaces, but input from the public asking for less spaces, as well as input from traffic consultants, brought the number down to between 160 and 165.
On Nov. 20, Schatz, who recently switched firms to Field Paoli Architecture, presented plans for the new library to residents and city officials who packed a room in the city's community center. Schatz said that he would record all comments from the public and then refine the plans one last time, before bringing them to the city council for approval on Jan. 17
Schatz said that the main goals of the renovation and expansion are to provide a larger, more functional library, while maintaining the character of the existing building. Preserving the city's orchard has also been an objective, Schatz said.
Schatz also noted that a specific goal of the building design was to create a "stronger sense of entry," since one complaint he has heard about the current library is that people can't find the entrance. Other specific goals are to have expanded areas for all collections, a more efficient layout for staff areas, more places to sit and study, and improved lighting. The existing community room in the library will be maintained and improved, Schatz said.
According to the building design, there is a "spine" that is basically flanked by the adult and young adult sections on one side and the children's section and community room on the other. The spine begins at the library's entrance and ends at an outdoor terrace overlooking the orchard. which will be enclosed with a low stone wall. There is another outdoor terrace off of the community room.
At the end of the inside of the spine is a cafe, where patrons can buy coffee, which is right next to the new books and bestsellers section, similar to a bookstore, according to Schatz. The plan does not block off the café from the rest of the library.
Along the spine inside is where the circulation desk is located, along with units where people can check books and materials out themselves.
In the adult section, the plans call for a quiet study room, a group study room, a reading room, and a training room for computer classes, as well as lots of seating and computers. In the children's section, plans call for a storytelling room.
Unlike the current building, the entrance to the new library will be located right off the parking lot. The planned entryway is set apart from both sides of the building, since it is recessed and also higher than they are. Beams that look like tree branches hold up the entryway and a large glass window lets in a lot of natural light.
Saratoga Mayor Stan Bogosian and City Manager Dave Anderson both brought up concerns about the entryway at the meeting on Nov. 20. They noted that the sunlight streaming through the window might be too strong and hot, and would irritate the librarians sitting at the circulation desk. Bogosian noted that because the window would be directly hit by rain during storms, it would be difficult to keep clean. Schatz said he would incorporate the comments into the final plan.
While the architects' design calls for removing 100 trees from the current orchard, it calls for the planting of 150 more. The scheme turns the existing courtyard area at the library into an extension of the orchard.
In terms of furnishings for the new library, a nonprofit group, The Friends of the Saratoga Libraries, has been putting money away for the past four years and has collected $163,000 so far, according to Bill McDonnal of the Friends. He said the goal of the Friends is to raise $250,000 before the library is occupied.
The city is now engaged in negotiations with several parties for a location for a temporary library during the 18 months it will take to build the new one, Anderson said, adding that most likely, the temporary facilities will be much smaller than the current library.
The Nov. 20 meeting was the third in a series of public workshops held on the library with the architect.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
