A collaboration with Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, LLC, this ground up home for a renowned East Asian book collection of 900,000 volumes of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean materials, is a quiet but powerful four-story mass anchoring the northern edge of the historic campus core opposite Doe Library. A granite-clad exterior reinforces UC Berkeley's neo-classical tradition, but contrasts with clear glass and patterned bronze metalwork that adds cultural content, modernity, and texture to the project. Inside, natural light from a north-facing skylight illuminates monumental stairwells between floors that become corridors of light. Program features include reading rooms, multimedia center, reference, collections, rare book room, and roughly 64,000 linear sf of shelving.
SIZE:
68,000 sf
LOCATION:
Berkeley, CA
AWARDS:
- 2011 AIA NY Honor Award for Architecture
- 2010 AIACC Honor Award for Architecture
- 2009 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
- 2009 “Building of America Award”, Real Estate & Construction Review – Pier 40
- 2008 Award of Merit, Outstanding Architectural Design, California Construction "Best of 2008" Design Awards
