Building a better library
In 1964, Principal Richard W. Day appointed Academy Librarian Rodney Armstrong to chair a small faculty committee. Its charge: Develop a program statement for a new library, develop plans for a separate building, and recommend an architect to the Trustees. Meeting into 1965, the committee conferred with numerous architects before recommending Louis I. Kahn, FAIA, as the architect, whom they admired “for his sympathetic use of brick and his concern for natural light.” Their recommendation was accepted in November 1965.
The final design document, entitled “Proposals for the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy,” also had the subtitle of “Program of Requirements for the New Library Recommended by the Library Committee of the Faculty.” Published in its final version in June 1966, the document is unusual in its approach, breadth, and conclusions.
Working both with Kahn and with Engelhardt, Engelhardt and Leggett, educational consultants from Purdy Station, New York, the committee covered every aspect of the building, from philosophy to practical details, with great emphasis on the atmosphere desired both within and without the building. In addition to outlining functional requirements for the library, the committee specified site and exterior design, design details, staff facilities, spatial relationships, and items such as air conditioning, lighting, electrical and mechanical equipment, and security, fire, and water protection. Some excerpts best capture the flavor of the document:
Embracing the committee’s specification on the use of traditional Exeter brick, stone, and slate, Kahn also incorporated extensive use of natural wood (primarily teak and white oak), travertine, and concrete, producing a building that is warm, impressive and highly functional.
Brick from Exeter
Eno, the local company that made the brick, closed its doors to the public in 1965 and went out of business in 1966. The Academy bought up their supply, two million bricks of a roughly textured, water-struck brick, and used it in the construction of the new library and Elm Street Dining Hall. 420,000 exterior face bricks are used in the library, while 300,000 interior face bricks are used. In addition, approximately 41,000 common bricks were used, as well as small quantities that went into fireplaces, etc.
Travertine Marble from Carrera, Italy
The gray-white travertine is used on the floor of the central hall (Rockefeller Hall) and main entrance staircase.
Library ceiling
The two large cross beams at the top of the central hall are of 165 tons of poured concrete. All the concrete in the central hall plays a part in supporting the building; none is decorative. In addition, the concrete pad on which the building is constructed because of poor soil conditions was the single largest pouring of concrete ever done in one day in New Hampshire.
The total amount of concrete used in the library is estimated to be approximately 5,621 cubic yards, of which a little over 1,000 cubic yards are in the basement slab, which averages 2 feet, 2 inches thick. Normally, you can figure a cubic yard of concrete to weigh 4,000 pounds.
Teak
Exterior woodwork. The teak on the outside walls was left unfinished, to weather naturally.
White oak
Interior millwork. The oak was treated with only a light coat of oil as a preservative.
Slate from Pennsylvania
Specifications for New Library and Dining Hall, Phillips Exeter Academy states all slate should be “unfading blue-black, natural cleft,” from the Buckingham-Virginia Slate Corp.