By expanding the library into the student union, more informal student-focused spaces can be enhanced with library resources. This new programmatic blend promotes informed and energetic dialogue between students. Enveloping this new spatial system with a digitally-enhanced “smart skin” allows it to creep into the library and the surrounding buildings to help with both wayfinding and information finding. Students can access the web, BISON, and other digital information by interacting with the smart skin, and can receive wayfinding cues from it as well.

As the graduate library for UB, Lockwood should have more presence on campus, with entrances that face both the parking lots and Founders’ Plaza. A weaving structure was chosen to distinguish Lockwood form surrounding buildings on campus and to create an intuitive flow within. On the interior, the woven elements form various types of study spaces, furniture, and partition walls in addition to serving as light modulators.

This project sought to create a more legible and intuitive library by arranging similar programmatic elements next to each other and by separating user spaces from spaces for holding books, articles, etc.

Step 1: Separation of interactive and personal spaces within the library without alterations to the existing form.
Step 2: Alteration of the form of the library to reflect the vertical shift from open public programs on the ground to closed private programs on top.
Step 3: The personal section remains unchanged while the interactive space is altered, connecting the two sections in one specific location.