SCHOOLS: Sarasota, Florida
Ringling’s new library creates a vibrant locus for learning at the heart of its expanding campus, an iconic form that embodies and supports the College’s creative community. This milestone project is quadruple the size of the former library. The library’s form defines the spaces that surround it, with a robust program that engages and animates them.
The library is an integral partner in the creative process at this design school, where its collections offer value both for visual inspiration and as cultural artifacts. Open and transparent, the library’s ground floor is a hub of activity, revealing the life within. Internally, the building is organized by layers of activity, progressing from most active to quietest as users move from ground floor to upper floors and along the east-west axis from campus edge to bayou. A series of outdoor terraces on the upper floors offer views and vantage points of the campus, providing sources of inspiration and different perspective.
Sweet Sparkman Architects worked in association with Shepley Bulfinch, a Boston firm, to provide design and construction administration for the new library.
