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Date: 3/21/2023
SHUTESBURY — The Library Building Committee (LBC), tasked with overseeing the design of a new library proposed for Leverett Road, met with members of several town committees and three architectural firms on March 16 in an effort to figure out how all the elements of the project will fit together.
Matt Oudens, principal of Oudens Mello Architecture of Boston, designer of many libraries in New England and New York – and the library designer for Shutesbury in 2010 – presented three possible site plans for the structure. Discussion suggested that a building of about 6,000 square feet will fit the site and the project budget.
Oudens’ comments suggested design elements of the structure are prompted by the lay of the land. Discussion clarified that trees, several gardens, solar generation, hardscapes, rainwater, a septic system, usability, emergency access, driveway placement and buffer zones – and the location of a neighbor’s well – all complicate the design picture.
A single feature, the slope of the roof, influences many other aspects of the design.
“These are all based on a one-story building of about 6,000 [square feet],” Oudens said of the three submitted plot plans. “We were organizing it as a…single slope roof…because we were trying to create some outdoor space around the library, for outdoor programming.”
A single slope roof was prompted, in part, by rainfall. Runoff from the roof, proper drainage away from the structure and activity areas, suggested an east west orientation. A single slope roof will also accommodate a larger solar array than a double slope roof, energy generation being a feature of the project deemed necessary by local officials.
The east-west orientation and solar generation needs then prompted considerations of sun exposure for the structure. Trees, however, will preserve a natural ambience. Gregory Tuzzolo, landscape architect for Stimson, a Cambridge design firm, weighed in. Dan Wakoluk, the town’s tree warden, also offered input.
“Your biggest problem is going to be north of your site,” Wakoluk said, “where it looks like you’ll have to remove most, if not all those trees between the wetland and the library, just to see the library.”
The consensus was the building should be visible from Leverett Road. The structure will be located about 350 feet from the pavement. Tuzzolo focused more on the activity area, the reading garden, which should have some shady areas. The need for garden shade then complicated plans for tree removal and replanting.
“The most important aspect of the reading garden,” Tuzzolo said, “is the relationship to the building, the orientation to the building, and what space the building creates.”
Library Director Mary Anne Antonellis voiced her hopes for the outdoor space, which seems central to the design.
“We want an outdoor place where we can gather,” Antonellis said. “I was thinking pollinator gardens and edible gardens, and native plants, and having this library on the grounds so that it blends into the natural surroundings.”
The reading garden, according to Elaine Puleo, chair of the LBC, will not be the only garden near the library. Plans are afoot to locate the community gardens on the property, Puleo said,“And we’re just waiting to see where it can go.”
Vegetable gardens could be situated on the 100 ft. buffer zone extending in from the borders of the property, which significantly limits options for locating the building. Oudens noted that in one layout the building extended into the buffer zone, calling for an adjustment – but the hard boundary seems to be a 50-foot buffer zone. That zone was established to mitigate possible impacts on wetlands, other site features and neighboring residences.
Parking for 14 to 16 vehicles will have a footprint roughly equivalent to the proposed building. Tuzzolo said that hardscapes, paved or graveled areas, could facilitate runoff, but a better strategy would be to create voids under the parking area to contain rainwater where it falls. Locating the driveway from Leverett Road was also discussed.
The Zoom dialogue revealed there is only one acceptable entry spot for the driveway. The flow of the drive was routed to accommodate a prominent tree, though Wakoluk didn’t think it would survive the building process. The need for a turn-around for emergency vehicles was discussed, without any final decision made, because not all departments have the same requirements.
“Every fire department is different, and they have discretion,” Tuzzolo said. “But generally they won’t back up more than 150 to 200 feet…or they might say, we can do that. Having a conversation at the right time is the only way to do it.”
A panel of the presentation diagrammed the timeline, which will involve many more meetings and dialogues. The design/development stage will continue through August 2023. Construction documents will be prepared between September and January, with the first bid documents going out to publications in early January 2024.