Look mom, no lights!

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Despite the heavy rain outside, this interior is brightened by natural light transmitted through the translucent roof.

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Can you believe a reading room designed for a hundred people that doesn’t need a single light bulb!   Well, almost.

Natural daylight is used to flood the entire 12,000 square foot reading room of the Franklin Public Library.  Although lights are provided for the evening, overhead lighting isn’t  really required in the daytime; even when it is cloudy or raining.  The curved translucent roof amplifies the ambient light on a dark cloudy day and replaces the gloominess with happiness.

LEED AP, Dennis J. Kowal AIA, designed the first library ever that uses 100% natural light for both the circulation area and main reading room.   “We wanted patrons to feel uplifted and relaxed by the natural light washing over them” while providing an exposed structural system that is starkly revealed by the backlit roof.

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Dennis Kowal Architects also designed a place for donors to display hand made tiles of historical events that occurred in the Township.  Helping their clients raise funds for a project is a common benefit of working with the firm.  Dennis read his design book “Doorknobs” to children at the library to raise awareness of the renovation and sponsored a design competition for a custom tile.  DKA also donated a butterfly bench sculpture for the indoor butterfly garden to the delight of library supporters.

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	Donor Wall designed by DKA includes a tile designed by a child who won the DKA library design competition!

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Would you like to see more neat stuff?    Click on the categories box at the left of this article and you can explore the visual world around you.  Learn how you can date a building by the nails used in construction or why there is a rain forest in New Jersey.

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