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.

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	Click here for slide show. Photo © Cervin Robinson

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.

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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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