Commack, NY The 41-year old Commack Public Library, located at 18 Hauppauge Rd., has re-opened following an $8.3 million renovation and expansion by general contractor Stalco Construction and Beatty Harvey Coco Architects (BHC). The building has not undergone any significant upgrades since it was originally built in 1976. The renovation was financed through a voter-approved $7.8 million bond issue, with additional funding of $500,000 from the library’s capital improvement fund. 

“Public libraries nationwide have undergone a dramatic functional change in recent years, transforming from what was once a simple depository of books into a multi-faceted community center that provides support and programs for all generations. Our beautiful redeveloped library will accommodate the needs of all members of the local community, from babies to seniors. I would like to thank the Commack Library District residents for their support for the renovation and the project team of Stalco Construction and Beatty Harvey Coco Architects for the amazing work they have done,” said Commack Public Library’s director, Laurie Rosenthal.

Stalco president, Alan Nahmias, said, “We created a modern, 23,000 s/f library that will serve its nearly 15,000 patrons for decades to come. The updated and reconfigured space will support the educational, research, technological, recreational, and entertainment needs of the community.” In addition, Stalco has significantly improved the building’s energy efficiency and brought it up to code, making all areas accessible to handicapped patrons.

The construction manager for the renovation was SCC Construction Management Group, the civil engineer was TDM Consulting, and the lighting design consultant was ChromaLD.

Prior to the renovation, the library interior was outdated, crowded, and no longer served the needs of the community. Children’s programs were taking place in the same space as adult events, there was no dedicated young-adult space, the facilities and furnishings were not comfortable for seniors, and the structure was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

The rebuilt library features a large children’s room that is designed to provide an enriching environment for children and families, with dedicated spaces for computer use, play, and programs, as well as a designated young-adult area for teenagers. There are now also dedicated areas for senior citizens that have comfortable furniture including chairs with armrests. A large, dividable community room and meeting room space was fit out to be used for the library’s multitude of community programs. There is additional space for public seating and leisure reading, and quiet rooms for individual and group study. Wi-Fi is available throughout the building and assistive listening devices for the hearing impaired were installed in the community room. The project team installed all new audio/visual equipment. The structure features two main stories and two mezzanine levels, including the 12,670 s/f main floor and the 3,500 s/f lower level. The upper mezzanine – or the upper stack – is 3,150 s/f  and the lower stack is 3,590 s/f.

“In the beginning of the design phase, the library’s leadership defined the functional requirements for the renovation, which included expanding dedicated spaces for children and young adults, enlarging event and community facilities, specifying more comfortable furniture, improving telecommunications and audiovisual technology, and increasing the visibility of the building’s main entrance. These requirements reflected the new role of the library as a community and social center for local residents,” said Beatty Harvey Coco Architects’ senior associate, Christopher Sepp, R.A. “We also addressed the strong angularity of the building by incorporating numerous circular elements into the interiors and increased the library’s visibility by adding a glazed, well-lit main entrance vestibule facing the parking lot. The previous entrance was not well defined, it was located away from the parking lot, and new visitors had difficulty finding it,” he added.

The interior spaces were reconfigured to accommodate changes in the services the library will offer. The formerly 1,719 s/f children’s area tripled in size to 4,663 /f. The previous young adult space, which was 315 s/f, has been expanded to 620 s/f. The prior adult library area, which was 9,201 s/f, is now 7,901 s/f. The 1,203 s/f multi-purpose/meeting room has been expanded to 1,735 s/f. In addition, the entire space is more flexible than before, and now can be divided by a movable curtain wall partition.  

The main floor and upper stack houses the adult library, which features low-curve shelving with a picture-hanging track above it so that artwork created by residents of the municipality can be displayed throughout. A circulation desk and circulation office, an audio/visual area, a young adult library, and the children’s library will also be on this floor, as well as the multipurpose room, and bathrooms. Some of the shelving was repurposed from the existing library; the rest was a new purchase by the library.

The children’s library includes a children’s program and event room, a toddler area with soft furniture and lounge seating along with a wall of picture books, and a new children’s library office. Families enter the children’s section through a highly visible, merry-go-round cup-like gateway with back-lit reveal pockets for displaying books and irregular, color LED light strips radiating outward from the ceiling center. Visitors can see the colorful interiors of the children’s section through the gateway. 

The architectural focal point of the children’s section is a circular ceiling feature with a continuous line of LED light strips installed on its perimeter. The RGB color of the perimeter light is programmable through a dedicated Acuity Controls system and it is coordinated with the color of the ceiling light in the “cup” gateway. The carpet below matches the ceiling with its own circular pattern. Other curved elements within this space include the reference desk, a curved carpet pattern in the toddler play area, curved soft furniture, and large circular lighting fixtures above the play area. 

The new young adults room is accessible from the main reading area. It houses a reference desk, stacks with a selection of age-appropriate books, a booth-like seating area with two benches facing each other and a table, and a perimeter counter with several computers and power connections for the patrons’ personal electronic equipment.

The multipurpose room features a new stage and a closet that holds a baby grand piano that can easily slide out for performances. It also has a ceiling-mounted projector and new audio/visual equipment.

The lower floor and lower stack holds the adult reference area and an accompanying reference office; quiet study areas accessible to patrons by key card; a business office, director’s office, and an assistant director’s office; a new board meeting room; staff work room; break room/pantry, custodian’s office; IT office; new storage areas; an area for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (M/E/P) equipment; and bathrooms.

“To increase the perceived height of the low ceiling in the lower stack area, we specified extra-large ceiling tiles. This section also houses circular niches with high reading tables and stools,” said Sepp.

Increasing the amount of natural light throughout the interiors was an important design goal as well. The upper stack room received internal bay windows overlooking the children’s room and receiving borrowed light from that section’s expansive, south-facing windows. The design team also maintained existing clerestory windows in the children’s and periodicals areas.

To visually indicate the periodicals section that is adjacent and opened to the main reading room, the architects specified ACGI millwork ceiling panels above the reading lounge. The panels feature micro-perforations to improve the acoustical properties of this area. The periodicals section is very popular among seniors and now features numerous comfortable armchairs with cushioned armrests, which were requested by older patrons during design planning consultations with the community. Further responding to the needs of seniors, this section also houses a collection of large-print books.

“All of the work was done with the use of sustainable and energy-efficient systems and materials to significantly improve the building’s operational efficiency, save money for years to come, and prevent the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could impact indoor air quality,” said Jason Vasquez, Stalco’s Project Manager. Materials used included low- and no-VOC paint, low- and no-VOC adhesives and solvents, and new carpet tile made of recycled materials. The project also entailed the installation of a new high-efficiency HVAC system, LED lighting fixtures that cut the library’s lighting energy use to one-third of what they were, and the installation of furniture and furnishings that were produced through green manufacturing processes. In addition, Stalco installed energy-efficient exterior insulation.

The decorative curved ceiling soffits – which feature cove lights – throughout the main floor of the building presented a construction challenge. To create the curving elements, the team built a curved frame for the ceilings and installed drywall over it. Fellert Acoustical Plaster was used in the corridor outside the circulation desk, to dampen noise. Other ceilings are plaster or wood panels in some areas and acoustical tile in administrative sections. Most of the walls are sheetrock, with Johns Manville acoustical insulation. Finally, columns were finished with Petersen Aluminum Corporation’s PAC-CLAD aluminum column covers. 

There was an existing elevator used only as a material lift, to bring books up and down between floors. Stalco instead installed a central elevator for use by both patrons and employees. “The design called for moving the elevator to the middle of the building to improve the circulation. As such, we had to excavate and shore the entire area to accommodate the elevator,” explained Stalco Superintendent, Vincent Marino.

Exterior and Site Work

The team created a new entranceway by adding approximately 500 square feet to the existing structure, creating a storage area next to the main entrance as well as an all-new glazed entrance vestibule. The new entrance features an expansive, two-story-high aluminum-and-glass storefront with an aluminum sunshade on it. The structure seems to soar into the air, well above the rest of the building, and features a cloud of tubular, vertical Acuity lighting fixtures suspended at different heights at the top of the vestibule. Combining individual fixtures into a larger lighting structure was a creative and economical design solution, significantly less expensive than purchasing an elaborate, over-sized chandelier to achieve the same strong visual effect. The illuminated vestibule now serves as a beacon for patrons from all over the area at night. The sunshade uses 320 square feet of Laminators Incorporated composite metal panels. 

The entire building’s facade is made up of an unusual ribbed split face masonry block that has a texture to it, unlike most masonry, which tends to have a sheetrock or another type of architectural surface cover. Here, the concrete masonry units’ (CMU’s) textured lines form the building’s entire finish. Modifications made to the building (such as the new entranceway) proved to present another construction challenge, according to Marino: “As this type of CMU has long been discontinued, Stalco had to clean, salvage, and repurpose about 2,000 blocks that it then incorporated into the entryways and in closing the infill. This was very time-consuming, painstaking work that had to be perfect. When the team reinstalled the salvaged blocks, they were careful to match the lines.” The scope of work called for the extra step of painting the entire structure, to ensure full visual uniformity.

Stalco also installed a new, white roof of Versico Thermoplastic-Polyolefin Roofing. This will reduce solar heat gain and heat island effect to the environment at night. The team affixed a 1.5mm flexible Bituthene System 4000 Waterproofing Membrane to waterproof the building’s foundation. The building also features a new perforated-aluminum mesh screen that provides a visual barrier hiding the rooftop HVAC equipment.

The site work included a drainage system to make way for a new, reconfigured asphalt-topped parking lot. The drainage included 20 leaching pools underneath the parking surface. A new septic system for the library was also placed below the parking area. Stalco also performed some landscaping work, including the installation of a new automatic irrigation system and the planting of a variety of trees, shrubs, grasses, and ground covers. 

The construction team had to perform extensive shoring at the new entrance to the building and fabricate new steel structural elements to reinforce the building.