Southwest Library

Southwest Library Washington DC
A library as a knowledge pavilion

The Southwest Neighborhood Library is a well-attended knowledge center for all residents and visitors to the US capital Washington. It is located at 900 Wesley Place SW in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, DC and is a part of Public Library of the District of Columbia.

Founded in 1896, the library system comprises of 25 neighborhood libraries and one central library. In 1972, the central library on Mt. Vernon Square was replaced by the large, modern Martin Luther Jr. Memorial Library. This new main library is eight times larger than the original Carnegie library. In March 2017, the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial library closed for extensive modernization and reopened in 2020. The project received the LEED Gold certification for environmental design.

The special thing about this ""Southwest Library"" project is the prominent folding structure of the roof construction in combination with the glass facade. The HASSLACHER Group supplied visual quality spruce glued laminated timber with all the steel connections pre-assembled at the factory, as well as a threefold surface treatment. The ""Brettstapel""-ceilings were produced by the StructureCraft company. The all visible wooden surfaces inside the building, such as ceiling elements, beams and columns in combination with the linear design give the library a very clear and appealing appearance.

The beams for the roof structure were delivered to Canada in September 2019. There, the ceiling elements made of glued laminated timber and stacked timber elements were largely prefabricated in order to make assembly on the construction site easier and as quick as possible. The supports and girders for the rest of the wood and steel construction were delivered directly to the construction site, so the wood construction could be completed in spring 2020.