Braselton Library

Braselton Library

The rapidly growing Town of Braselton had outgrown its 7,420 sf public library. The library is situated one block from the primary intersection in the heart of the small historic downtown. The crossroads include the historic farmhouse of the town founder, John Oliver Braselton. The design of the existing one-story library is said to have been inspired by the historic home and its Colonial Revival style. Surrounding the historic farmhouse and neighboring the library site are numerous agricultural outbuildings.

The Braselton Library children’s wing and community room addition is a modern, gabled, two-story “outbuilding” that serves as a foil to the residential-inspired existing library. Responsive to the addition’s program, the simplistic pentagonal form is also reminiscent of a child’s interpretation of building form.

Biophilic design principles are employed through the integration of natural light, bold, nature-inspired color, and visual and physical connections to the outdoors. Vaulted two-story spaces allow natural light to spill deep into the library interior, while high-efficiency, low-iron-coated glass and shading devices on the south- and east-facing facades control it. The west wall of the building is swung open, revealing the contents inside through a north-facing curtain wall opening onto the new children’s garden and story walk. Storytime tiered seating extends from the building interior into the garden and is integrated into the staircase to the second-level community meeting room.

The new wing provides spaces that inspire education, exploration, and community activity through cohesive strategies that interconnect the building’s exterior design with its interior spaces.