Nashville Public Library
Nashville
Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Hard-nosed problem-solving skills as well as neoclassicism create a competition-winning design

© Peter Aaron/Esto

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By Christine Kreyling

The Nashville Public Library commission, which by Robert A.M. Stern Associates and the local firm Hart Freeland Roberts, won in a competition with two other finalists—Michael Graves and Hardy Holzman Pfieffer—envisioned a building with 288,000 square feet of space (four times the size of the existing facility) and a construction budget of $50–$55 million.

The program, developed by project manager Heery International for a user group wary of winding up with a stylish but dysfunctional plant, was purposely specific. The full-block site was difficult—with a steep slope and a parking garage that had to be preserved. The immediate context was architecturally mediocre and fractured by surface parking, but it had the virtue of a direct sight line to the Tennessee State Capitol three blocks away.

Stern’s victorious design acknowledged that the capitol is the only architecture in the vicinity worth the library patron’s attention. The major public spaces—lobby, Nashville Room for special collections, and Grand Reading Room—all focus on views of William Strickland’s Greek Revival masterwork. More informal seating areas turn inward toward an open-air courtyard. And in its uncompromisingly Classical organization, massing, and detailing, the library recognizes the capitol’s stature

By building a three-story, pedimented limestone front on Church Street, the architects were able to place two large floors over the existing parking structure. They also inserted an intimate Italianate courtyard in the center of the plan on the second floor.
The interior is an exercise in logical progression. The ground floor lobby houses circulation services, with a balcony functioning as exhibition and music gallery. Surrounding the lobby are spaces requiring the most immediate public access: a "storefront" for popular materials, a streetside café and retail space, and a conference center adjacent to the garage.

A double staircase leads up to the children’s section, special collections, and offices. The top floor, with its barrel-vaulted main reading room, is reserved for serious study and research. The plan allows activity to circulate around the courtyard and minimizes a patron’s need to trek through one division in search of another.

See the February 2003 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Nashville Public Library

Location:
Nashville

Gross square footage:
350,410 sq ft

Total construction cost:
$51 million

Owner:
Public Library of Nashville and Davidson County
Nashville, Tennessee

Architect:
Robert A.M. Stern Architects
460 West 34th Street
New York, New York 10001
Tel: (212) 967-5100
Fax: (212) 967-5588
www.ramsa.com