Our addition and renovation of this 1984 Gwathmey Siegel design moves away from the abstraction of open-plan and the idea of building as sculpture, to a notion of identifiable rooms and a village of forms. Neither approach, Gwathmey Siegel's or ours, is better than the other. It is a matter of responding to present programmatic requirements that require discreet spaces for the complex needs of today's library.

A town library is an emblem of civic pride. The Westport Library has long been an important town resource and meeting place, but its structure was lacking appropriate circulation and space to meet enhanced use, and required expansion. Our solution was to renovate the original library, and design a new addition that will meet the needs of its growing community and new technology.

The 16,000 square foot addition provides book stack expansion and reading rooms that overlook the Saugatuck River and Jessup Green. The children's department and the audio/visual department were expanded. The new spaces allow the library to better conduct its many day and evening programs, including office space for business people, a video library and coffee bar.

The library entrance has been moved in order to be accessible from a reconfigured town green. Reception areas, circulation and reference departments were reconfigured and expanded. A new circulation desk and reception area were added.