Rego Park Community Library

Project Description

The Rego Park Community Library serves more than 200,000 patrons and is home to an expanding, multi-lingual collection of books. Situated in Queens, the fastest growing New York City borough, the library's needs have rapidly outgrown their existing single-story, 7,500 square foot facility.

To welcome the Rego Park community, the design incorporates a multistory 18,500 square foot library building with a strong sculptural presence. A textured and faceted façade of green-glazed brick celebrates the familiar material context of the neighborhood's masonry buildings and tree-lined streets while translating a historic material into a contemporary expression. Generous windows open the interior spaces to passers-by while providing natural light to patrons. Double-height reading room spaces bring views and light into every level of the building. The angled facades provide oblique views from the street, signaling a welcoming level of transparency and accessibility, inviting readers and local residents inside.

The library’s design organizes its program into two major volumes: publicly accessible areas on the east along 63rd Drive, and private staff and service areas on the west along the neighboring property line. The children’s, adults’, and teens’ reading rooms within the public area are stacked vertically in section and staggered in plan. Full height glazing between them allows for acoustic separation while strengthening visual connections and maximizing natural light. The shear between the two programmatic volumes of the building creates a tall clerestory at the culmination of the multistory, central stair, bringing natural light deep into the building.

Libraries themselves are great democratic equalizers, providing physical space for both leisure and free learning. The new Rego Park Community Library will function as a central hub for the Queens community while also encouraging introspective engagement—a public extension of private life. The new facility will allow the Queens Public Library to expand upon their mission of welcoming and servicing their community as a place of inclusion, access, intellectual freedom, innovation, integrity, respect, and excellence.

Selected Recognition

New York Public Design Commission Annual Award for Excellence in Public Design

Featured in City Land NYC, the Forest Hills Post, and QNS.

Visualization © WEISS/MANFREDI

Role

Senior Project Manager