With a conceptual plan developed by renowned architect Wolfgang Tschapeller, the new Cornell University’s Mui Ho Fine Arts Library is a 21st century, LEED Gold marvel. Housing Cornell’s fine arts library collection, four vertically stacked mezzanines of completely open book stacks hang suspended within a 40-foot-tall atrium. Four floors contain more than 100,000 volumes of the country’s best fine arts materials.
STV served as architect-of-record and building engineer for the adaptive reuse project, transforming the traditional brick building into the College of Architecture, Art and Planning’s permanent research library. With semi-transparent floors made of steel grating and an absence of walls within the stacks, full sight lines are created from one end of the atrium to the other. Generous reading areas, spaces for individual and group study and public technology stations provide students, faculty and visitors alike with an unparalleled library experience.
Following its completion, the project took home awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York and Engineering News-Record.
