Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center
Hyde Park, N.Y.
R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects
R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband
create an airy gateway center that invites visitors
to explore the historic FDR Presidential Library.
By James Murdock
The FDR library, which is run by the National Archives
and Records Administration, forms part of a larger historic
site, owned by the National Park Service, that includes
the Roosevelt family home as well as the president and
Mrs. Roosevelt's grave sites. Visitors used to access
the 290-acre property via a 1940s-era driveway that
led to a ticket booth in an unsheltered parking lot.
In addition to replacing this outmoded, rather undignified
entry, the clients wanted a new interpretive space where
they could present historical background on Roosevelt
and his era. Also, the library's directors sought larger
offices for themselves and a dedicated conference center.
Manhattan-based R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband
Architects got the commission after the Park Service
had vetoed an earlier scheme by another firm. But just
as construction documents were to be submitted for the
planned building on the site of the parking lot and
ticket booth, the Park Service discovered that this
spot had once been the Roosevelt family's vegetable
garden.
For their second attempt, Kliment and Halsband located
the 50,000-square-foot visitor's center roughly 100
yards north on land that was formerly part of a neighboring
estate. They designed a village of small buildings with
steep gabled roofs, organized into a squared-off C shape
that opens toward the library. Paying homage to Roosevelt,
they clad these structures in locally quarried fieldstone
and added porches along most facades.
Visitors enter the Wallace Center through its main
doorway on the western elevation, or through a separate
tour-group entry to the north. Passing by a gift shop
and a café, they arrive at the orientation lobby,
a pavilionlike structure whose glass curtain walls allow
unobstructed views of the site. Embedded in the floor
is a tile mosaic depicting a 1940s-era map of the region.
To the south, doors lead to the courtyard and library
beyond; to the east is an auditorium as well as a glazed
corridor that connects to a wing containing offices
and the conference center.
All of the Wallace Center's public spaces are located
on grade, making them fully wheelchair accessible. And,
although it's uncertified, the building qualifies for
a LEED Silver rating— largely thanks to its ample
use of daylight.
Want the full story? Read the entire article in our November 2006 issue.
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Formal name of project:
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center
Location:
Hyde Park, N.Y.
Gross
square footage:
50,000 sq. ft.
Total
Construction Cost:
$14 million
Owner:
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Architect:
R.M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects
255 West 26 Street
New York, NY 10001
212-243-7400 tel.
212-633-9769 fax
www.kliment-halsband.com
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