Gaithersburg Public Library

Our redesign of the Gaithersburg Library includes the demolition of the majority of the original 1980 building, the retention and redeployment of its steel structure, and an expansion. Whitman Requardt & Associates are collaborating architects for the project.  

The building interior is configured to prioritize clear wayfinding and visual connectivity. The glass entrance lobby, with its café and seating area, serves as a community gathering place. A linear atrium links all major functions while wide circulation pathways and low shelving open views throughout the Library of the children, young adult, and general reading areas. Community needs are served by multiple group study rooms, and meeting spaces. On the upper floor, the Gilchrist Center provides recent newcomers to the United States with ESL training as well as with counseling, education, legal, and tax services. 

Daylighting strategies are deployed throughout the Library with clerestories, skylights, and light shelves, benefiting building user comfort and providing sustainable efficiencies. In contrast to the heavy brick cladding and high-level windows of the original Library building, the exterior façade is designed with large areas of high-performance glazing, giving the Gaithersburg community a welcoming new transparency of Library activities.