Bayard T. School Library

Featured in the tenth annual open house new york (OHNY) architecture tour weekend, October 2012

The library at this primary school is located within the historic 1895 C.B.J. Snyder building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, facing the neighborhood’s Carnegie Library. Focusing on the room’s future functions, the client was seeking flexible spaces to expand its everyday use. The studio’s solution incorporated existing historic elements into a new, contemporary design that created a variety of new spaces where students, teachers, and parents could study, lounge, and discuss.

A new high, undulating ceiling with integrated lighting, wood paneling with inbuilt shelving, and poured seamless flooring were introduced in the raw space, leaving its historic aspects intact. A stepped niche at the windowed corner became the storytelling area, including low storage for children.

Computer tables are situated near the librarian’s desk for ease of use as needed. The sequence of spaces is articulated by modular and movable furniture that can be reconfigured easily, producing the client’s desired flexibility.

The library’s materials and technologies responded to the latest environmental standards and followed specific environmental requirements developed with the client.

This project is part of a transformative series of A*PT Architecture school libraries that are expanding their educational purposes by unifying New York City student communities in new ways.

Selected Publications/Exhibits

ArchDaily - Public School 158 Bayard Taylor Library - October 2013

Plataforma Arquitectura - Library of the Public School 158 Bayard Taylor - February 2013

CultureNOW - Public School 158 Bayard Taylor Library - December 2012