NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 28 number 2 - Winter 2007

Selection of Architect for James B. Hunt Jr. Library

By Jeanne Hammer, Capital Management and External Relations

"The heart of any successful campus is its library. We envision the James B. Hunt Library becoming the heart of NC State's Centennial campus and playing an integral part in the lives of all of our engineering students and faculty as we continue our growth on Centennial campus."

--Louis A. Martin-Vega, Professor and Dean, College of Engineering, NC State University

With the allocation of $17 million to plan the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on Centennial Campus, the first phase of the selection process for the design team of architects, engineers, and related consultants is under way. This first phase involves selecting the lead architectural design firm for the Hunt Library. The unique addition of a design charrette to the process is indicative of the Hunt Library's importance to the future of North Carolina State University and, in particular, the Centennial Campus.

The typical selection process involves advertising for interested architectural firms to present their qualifications. The building committee reviews the materials each firm submits and narrows the list to a few that appear to be the most qualified for the particular project. Architects from this "short list" of firms make presentations before the building committee, highlighting the relevance of their previous work, and are interviewed by the committee. The committee evaluates the presentations and the responses to questions, and a selection recommendation is compiled for Board of Trustees approval.

For the Hunt Library, a design charrette was added to the mix to provide a window into the creative process of each firm. The goals of the charrette were to understand how each firm approaches and works through a design problem and to help the building committee envision what a working relationship with the firm would be like.

On the day before the charrette, the building committee, along with two members of the Board of Trustees, interviewed each architectural firm after the firms' presentations. The next day, each firm visited the building site and was given a design problem related to the Centennial Campus site but not directly tied to design of the library project, along with space in which to work. During the day, members of the building committee observed each firm as they worked on the design problem. Student volunteers from the College of Design assisted the architects with technical issues such as printing and participated in the work. A jury of architectural faculty from NC State and elsewhere also observed.

On the third day, each architectural firm presented its solution to the design problem to the building committee. The jury separately presented its evaluations to the building committee. The building committee ended the day with a session to discuss each member's perspective and to prepare a recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

The first day of interviews was open to anyone interested, but the jury evaluations and building committee deliberations were closed sessions. The two members of the Board of Trustees participating in the interviews were Derick Close and Burley Mitchell. The jurors assisting the building committee were:

Georgia Bizios, Professor of Architecture, NCSU;
Kofi Boone, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, NCSU;
Thomas Fisher, Professor and Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota; and
Patricia Belton Oliver, Senior Vice President, Educational Planning and Architecture, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California.

Altogether, thirty-four firms submitted their qualifications, and the building committee invited the following six firms to participate in the charrette:

Croxton Collaborative Architects--New York, New York;
Duda Paine Architects--Durham, North Carolina;
Fentress Architects--Denver, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.;
Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee--Raleigh, North Carolina;
Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott--Boston, Massachusetts;
Snøhetta--Oslo, Norway, and New York, New York.

The committee recommended Snøhetta, an internationally recognized firm with offices in Oslo, Norway, and New York City. Craig Dykers and Kjetil Thorsen are the founding partners of Snøhetta, which takes its name from a mountain peak in central Norway that, according to Norse legend, is the site of Valhalla, the resting place of dead heroes.

Since it formation in 1989, Snøhetta has won numerous international design competitions and has been represented in exhibitions around the world. The firm is best known for its completion of the Alexandria Library in Egypt and major projects such as the Norwegian embassy in Berlin and the New National Opera in Oslo. Snøhetta was also selected to design the World Trade Center Museum Pavilion, the Wolfe Center for the Arts at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and the performing arts center at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada.

Snøhetta's approach to architecture focuses on the total environment, not just the structure, and its work has been characterized as having a presence that resonates with the surrounding context. The firm is noted for having a collective, egalitarian structure that emphasizes teamwork.