For the past three years, Turner Construction Co. and its 50 subcontractors have been erecting the library of the future on a square block at 11th Avenue and Park Boulevard in San Diego’s bustling East Village.
When librarians throw open the doors to the nine-story structure, set for Sept. 28, the $185 million Central Library becomes not just a repository for reading, listening and viewing materials, but a structure serving as a bridge between the haves and have-nots in accessing the Internet and the Web.
Indeed, the library provides more than 400 computer terminals scattered in various spaces, four times the number available at the old building, which was closed June 8 ahead of the move to the new space.
The structure that encloses the library is impressive.
Highlights of the 500,000-square-foot high-rise include a 9,000-square-foot children’s library, 350-seat auditorium and reading room under the library’s lattice-covered, bullet-shaped dome, plus a 400-seat multipurpose room and two levels of underground parking.
A technology-focused high school to accommodate 400 students will occupy 76,000 square feet on the sixth and seventh floors of the building, with a separate entrance at the ground level.
Dome Proved Challenging
In addition, the library will offer numerous tablets and other computing devices on loan for those patrons who require the flexibility of handheld access to the Internet, as well as free Wi-Fi connections for those who bring their own devices.
Carmen Vann, Turner’s project executive for the library, said construction of the dome proved to be the most challenging aspect of bringing the building project to a successful completion.
Vann explained that the dome is made up of eight large structural support “sails” curving to a point creating the projectilelike outline. The supports range in height from 60 feet to 100 feet.
“Because of the complexity of the geometry, you have curved surfaces everywhere,” she said. “Making it all work was pretty complex.”
Using the now industry standard Building Information Modeling, or BIM software, she said workers were able to see the dome’s many pieces in 3-D to better help them preview the process of how to assemble it quickly and safely.
“Without 3-D modeling, there is no way it could have been constructed with the degree of safety, and in the timeframe required, and it would have been trial and error, and taken much longer to complete,” she said. “They would have had to take down each sail piece and adjust them on the ground.”
1.2 Million Books, Documents
The library is capable of holding more than 1.2 million books, reference documents and other materials.
Vann noted that the steel structural supports and floors were designed in such a way that the library can handle a heavy — but constantly shifting load as patrons come and go in search of their favorite books.
Meanwhile, she said the work featured more subcontractors than in regular projects of that size, because the bidding was broken down to allow small, local subcontractors — many minority- and women-owned — to bid on pieces of the job.
The job, which averaged about 170 workers on site at any one time, jumped past 200 workers at peak periods during construction, said Vann.
She noted, for example, that Morley Construction Co.’s San Diego concrete group spent 18 months on the site, averaging 70 employees daily.
Local Subcontractors Employed
She cited Poway-based Brian Cox Mechanical as another large subcontractor that had a very visible presence on the job site.
Fabricator SME Steel Contractors with headquarters in West Jordan, Utah, provided assembly of the complicated lattice-shrouded steel dome.
San Diego’s Martin & Libby Structural Engineers provided the structural engineering services for the project.
Some of the smaller subcontractors on the site included the San Diego office of KHS&S Contractors, which performed most of the work involving the interior of the library.
Vann said many of the smaller subs worked on the auditorium, which designers and builders view as a separate building connected to the main structure.
San Diego glazier Designer Glass & Shower installed all of the glazing in the auditorium, she said.
“We didn’t have to work with unusual materials, but we had to work differently with the materials,” said Vann.
‘Very Heavy Building’
She noted for example the way that the book windows fit into the walls required a little bit more consideration.
“The beam and girder system provides the ability to quickly and easily spread the loads from all the books that are now coming in,” Vann said. “It’s a very heavy building, with a lot of concrete, with large columns to support the dome.”
As a result, Vann said librarians will now be able to take 600,000 books that were stored in the basement of the old building and put them on the shelves of the new library.
“The architect felt like we accomplished what he designed,” Vann said. “That was more satisfying than just being in my own bubble of being happy with the project.”
Rob Wellington Quigley, FAIA, and San Diego-based firm Tucker Sadler & Associates designed the library in a joint venture.
17-Year Lead Time
Quigley said his biggest challenge was the long lead time — more than 17 years from inception to completion — coupled with a minimal budget.
Many of the consultants involved at the beginning left the project over the years.
“It’s very, very difficult to do a project with a delay over such a long period of time,” he said.
He noted that other public buildings, including buildings nearby at San Diego City College, enjoyed twice the budget on a square foot basis, while the new federal courthouse building had three times the budget per square foot.
“I couldn’t be happier, given the budget we had to work with,” he said, noting that only $120 million of the $185 million went to construction. “It’s a pretty phenomenal accomplishment by the contract as well as the design team.”
The unique dome is still top of mind for Quigley, who said he got the idea for a dome after a series of public workshops.
Participants said they wanted a “foreground building” not a “background building.”
“I still remember the words,” he said. “‘It should build on our past and look to our future.’”
So Quigley took the “architectural language” from Balboa Park’s California Building plus the lattice that protects the botanical garden building.
He was quick to point out that it’s not actually a dome, but a series of eight three-pointed arches.
It doesn’t have the weight of a true dome, so it gives the feeling of “lifting off.”
“Visually it’s very buoyant,” he said. “It doesn’t look complete; it’s always in the act of becoming. That’s my take on what a library should be.”
“It’s already become iconic,” said Library Director Deborah Barrow. “Other departments and agencies are already using photos of it for logos, and other uses, and we haven’t even opened the doors.”
“Imagine what will happen when people actually get a chance to get to the new library, and see what’s inside,” she added. “It is absolutely stunning.”