Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Seamlessly blending the library’s historic charm with contemporary architectural elements, Conrad Ello and the rest of the design team have revitalized the existing Boston Public Library Faneuil Branch by enhancing accessibility, sustainability, and community engagement.
With a focus on natural light, open spaces, and flexible programming areas, the Faneuil Branch reaffirms its role as a vital cultural hub for the Brighton neighborhood.
The renovation and expansion of the Boston Public Library Faneuil Branch building seeks to balance the best attributes of the original historic structure with a need for growth to accommodate the functional and technological demands of a modernized library.
The project has been awarded with a 2024 American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Three major criteria have guided the design approach: accessibility, preservation and existing space constraints.
Located in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, the original 6,500 square-foot, two story building is a well-preserved example of the Art Deco style designed by the architects Kilham, Hopkins & Greeley and constructed in 1931.
The library is one of relatively few buildings of this style in Brighton and, along with the adjacent Oak Square Fire Station, it forms a strong visual image for Oak Square.
Given the building’s architectural significance, the building is currently listed on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s cultural resource information system and has a pending Boston Landmarks Commission designation.
In 2010, the library was under threat of permanent closure, after almost eighty years in service to the Brighton community.
As one of only two Boston Public Library branches without an accessible entrance or accessible restrooms (out of 26 total branches), the library was an easy target in an era of downsizing during the “Great Recession.”
Funding for this project eventually came through after a major public campaign to save this important community resource.
The project features the comprehensive renovation of the original library, as well as a two-story, 5,300 square foot expansion that includes a new accessible main entrance “pavilion,” a new light-filled children’s wing and accessible restrooms.
The entry pavilion incorporates an elevator and stair linking the sidewalk level and elevated main floor level of the library, serving as the primary entrance for all visitors, with the original Faneuil Street entrance converted into a dramatic new window overlooking Oak Square.
The pavilion’s massing and proportions are responsive to the existing 1931 library and adjacent Fire Station, taking care to align with library’s cornice line (in elevation) and the corner of the Fire Station (in plan) to create a complementary, albeit new, addition to the streetscape.
While contextually driven in scale, the appearance and material qualities of the pavilion are contemporary and clearly distinguish it from the historic structure to which it connects.
The façade fronting Faneuil Street is a welcoming, transparent composition of glass and granite cladding that slips just past the corner of the original building to announce it’s importance as a new public entrance.
Pulling the entry elements out of the historic building frees up space for high-priority public functions, to reside on one level with convenient access from space to space for patrons and clear sightlines for staff.
The interior layout preserves, in the most fundamental sense, the interior organization of the original building.
In particular, the creation of the new children’s wing facilitated the restoration of the original community room, which for many years served as the cramped quarters for the children’s collection.
Great care was also taken to preserve the building’s myriad interior Art Deco details.
Project: Boston Public Library Faneuil Branch
Architects: Oudens Ello Architecture
Lead Architect: Conrad Ello
Original Architects: Kilham, Hopkins and Greeley (1931)
General Contractor: Boston Building & Bridge Corp.
Client: Boston Public Library / City of Boston
Photographers: Chuck Choi Architectural Photography and Oudens Ello Architecture
