NCSU envisions an iconic library

Renowned designer of the 9/11 Memorial is planning a facility to provide needed space at Centennial

RALEIGH -- N.C. State University badly needs another library; its sterile-feeling new Centennial Campus needs an inviting centerpiece. They may be getting both in a single bold stroke.

The university is working with one of the hottest hyper-modern architects in the world on an iconic structure that some university officials think could attract international visitors with its design alone. It also would more than double the number of library seats the school has.

The James B. Hunt Jr. Library was one of 29 construction projects state officials decided last week to fast-track to pump cash into North Carolina's faltering economy.

The library building, planned for the new Centennial Campus south of Western Boulevard, will get the single largest chunk, $109 million. It will house both the library and the Institute for Emerging Issues, a think tank started by its namesake, North Carolina's governor from 1977 to 1985 and 1993 to 2001.

The building is expected to cost about $126 million, including $17 million approved in 2007 for planning, and be completed in 2012. University officials -- who had feared the library might be delayed for years by tough times -- were relieved when word came that the Council of State had voted to speed bond sales for the project.

NCSU has long needed more library space. It is ranked last in the UNC system, with seating for less than 5 percent of its ever-growing student body, said Susan Nutter, vice provost and director of libraries for the university. The system standard is 20 percent.

On some days, more than 7,000 students use the main D.H. Hill Library, many standing or sprawling on the floor because it has seats for fewer than 1,600, Nutter said. The Hunt library would more than double that number.

But the new building is expected to carry a greater burden than simply serving as the university's second main library. By its function and appearance, university leaders want it to inspire and be the intellectual and social heart of the new campus.

It would house collections on engineering, textiles and some hard sciences where they make the most sense, on the tech-oriented research campus. It would also provide space for collaboration on such things as research projects, and it would bring more of a campus feel to Centennial, which seems more like an office park than a university campus.

The library is being designed by the Norwegian firm of Snohetta (pronounced "sno-HET-uh"). The firm designed the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center site in New York and won the award for top cultural building design at the 2008 World Architectural Festival.

The company's marching orders from NCSU were to draw "a signature building... that will be the heart of Centennial Campus, located at the geographical and symbolic junction of academia and the marketplace."

The design will be suggested at least partly by textiles being woven, said university officials. Some major features, such as how many floors the library would have, aren't settled yet, and the university is probably weeks away from having drawings that would accurately convey the look of the building. An early drawing suggests the building's likely footprint: an angular, vaguely Dust Buster-ish shape.

Nutter said the building is expected to feature lots of natural light and usable outdoor spaces and to be heavily "green."

Snohetta's work can be startling. Some of the firm's designs resemble giant blobs of molten metal, and others look vaguely like more-traditional skyscrapers that have started to melt and twist. Others are severely angular.