Five years following the closing of the second busiest New York Public Library location on West 53rd plans have finally been released for its new space. Amidst Manhattan Luxury Apartments the library promises to be a modern, open space designed by architects TEN Arquitectos.
The new approach to the library is to provide a welcoming space for people to meet beneath a luxury condo offering more Manhattan luxury apartments. The Baccarat Hotel and Residences will provide 50 stories of living space above the Donnell Library Centre. The space is going to be much smaller than it was in its original state yet will still provide the same amount of book space.
The library will have three floors below ground and is undergoing a $20 million renovation and rebuild. It will not only be a library but provide a space in which people will enjoy movies, as well as presentations by speakers in the new auditorium. It will also no doubt become a meeting place for cultural events once open.
The old library’s World languages room, teenager’s room and media center will be replaced with updated needs including a children’s reading room, technology hub and auditorium. With so many technological options to the paper back and hard covers of the past, people still love the idea of reading a book with real pages you can turn and feel in your hands. However technology does play a major role in how people read and access information and therefore a technology hub was in order.
New Yorkers need not fear any of the items from the missing space has been taken away. They are able to access the World languages materials at the mid-Manhattan library where it is getting far more exposure and use than it did when it was housed at the old Donnell locations.
In order to provide natural light into the three floors below architect Enrique Norten concentrated on providing a grand light and airy welcome entryway which will carry people into the building and then down to the floors below. The street level glass wall provides natural light to the main areas of the library while providing an excellent view to keep passersby interested in what might be happening inside.
As for the Manhattan luxury apartments and hotel above, the library is well separated from the area to avoid confusion for those who are visiting the library and those who are staying at the hotel
