BBS completes 750 s/f outdoor Sayville Library children’s area; Served as landscape architect and civil engineer for $125,000 project

Sayville Public Library building. Photo credit: Peter Wilk/Wilk Marketing Communications.

The semi-circular safety surface play area at the Sayville Public Library. Photo credit: Peter Wilk/Wilk Marketing Communications.

The southwestern perimeter of the children’s program area at the Sayville Public Library. Photo credit: Peter Wilk/Wilk Marketing Communications.

Roger Smith, BBS Architects

Sayville, NY BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers has completed the outdoor children’s program area at the Sayville Public Library. BBS served as landscape architect and civil engineer for the project.

“Located at 88 Greene Ave. in Sayville, the new $125,000, 750 s/f outdoor plaza and auditorium serves as a multifunctional children’s event area.  It has replaced an underutilized, sloping lawn and is the library’s only outdoor venue,” said BBS Architects principal Roger Smith, AIA, LEED AP.

BBS co-head of Site planning and design group Curt Coronato, RLA, ASLA, CPSI, said, “The children’s area features two parallel, curved retaining walls totaling 140 linear ft., which double as amphitheater-style seating; a custom-designed steel pergola with a trellis; a paved section; a custom-patterned safety surface play area; a planted landscape section; an architectural steel fence with a gate; and a new underdrain stormwater management system.”

Adjacent to the southwestern wall of the library building, the semi-circular children’s area is accessible directly through a dedicated building entrance. BBS designed the plaza to address the library’s need for both an outdoor children’s section and an additional programing venue for presentations, book readings, and plays.  The construction crews removed 50 cubic yards of soil in order to create a level surface and the amphitheater seating within the sloping site.

The designers focused on maximizing the available area and creating a welcoming, comfortable outdoor environment for both children and parents.  The textures and colors of materials are harmonized with the library building.  The 540 s/f, semi-circular safety surface play area, constructed of poured-in-place Vitriturf rubber, features a blue, green, and yellow pattern reminiscent of a lake with a beach and a meadow.  This section also serves as the stage for presentations, with a building wall behind utilized as a backdrop.

The Vitriturf system consists of an ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) surface and a styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) base, manufactured from recycled rubber automotive parts, such as tires and wipers.

Two 70-ft.-long, curved retaining walls surround the safety surface play area.  BBS specified Cambridge Ledgestone wallpavers as the retaining wall material and matching Cambridge Ledgestone pavingstones for the centrally located stair and walking path that connect the fence gate to the building’s entrance.  The retaining walls are built into the slope of the site and provide comfortable seating for library patrons.  Above the retaining walls are a semi-circular landscaped area and the fence. 

The southwestern perimeter features a 40-ft. long, eight-ft. wide radial pergola with a trellis manufactured by Coverworx Recreational Architecture.  Finished in evergreen-colored TGIC polyester powder coating and anchored in concrete footings, it provides shade on sunny days.  BBS-designed landscaping includes shrubs, perennials, and vines intended to climb the pergola.