Oregon City Public Library

Honoring the past while modernizing for the future

The Oregon City Public Library addition and renovation project honors its storied history as a Carnegie Library while providing a modern space suited for current and future needs. Originally built in 1913 as one of Andrew Carnegie’s endowed libraries, the Oregon City Carnegie Building is historically designated and any proposed changes are to be made in deference to the historic structure. Even with these challenges, SEA and the community at large knew renovating and adding to this existing structure was the best approach to both provide Oregon City with a landmark facility and carry on the legacy of the honored building.

Client
City of Oregon City

Location
Oregon City, OR

Size
14,000 sf

Year
2016

Achievements
2017 Restore Oregon DeMuro Award for Excellence in Preservation, Adaptive Reuse, and Community Revitalization

Close up of side of Carnegie building with Carnegie Library sign — SEA understands the responsibility that accompanies historic projects like this, and we take care in our designs. After the Carnegie Building site, which also includes a historic park, was selected we asked ourselves how can we showcase the historic qualities inherent in the original building while also adding the amount of space necessary for a modern library program? How can we seismically and aesthetically merge the original and addition?

Library showing park surrounding. — The inspiration for our design stems directly from the original building. The fully renovated 5,000 sf Carnegie Building remains front and center. Several meandering pathways draw people through the site and toward one of two entries — the original entry is preserved, and a second entry is added where the two buildings meet.

Community engagement photo of Sid presenting plans to the oregon city community — Also considered in the early stages, and continued throughout, was community input — SEA met with over 14 community and neighborhood groups multiple times to ensure voices were heard.

Mock up of new library with people putting words down to represent the program spaces desired

The 14,500 sf, 2-story addition sits behind the original building and adds triple the square footage to the library. It consists of large concrete retaining walls, structural masonry block walls, structural steel columns and beams, a complimentary brick veneer that honors the brick on the Carnegie building, and large aluminum storefront windows. The second story of the addition is largely windows, and it floats like a crown above the brick base.

Main lobby showing old historic brick wall connected to new addition — The new entrance foyer is the heart of the library. It blends the past and the present, retaining the existing (rear) facade of the Carnegie Building as part of the new reception and atrium space. The design peels away the exterior wall and finds ways to create a dialog between the existing library’s new foyer, playing with materials and scale to create this unique experience and transitional space.

lobby view of entry to children's section and main staircase

People can walk through the existing wall into the new building and admire the suspended artwork and ample natural sunlight. With significantly more space available, the library now includes an upgraded media collection, meeting rooms, community space for events, internet services, a children’s library, a teen library, and maker space.

Colorful seating with mother and daughter reading in children's area

The design incorporates the wood from four dying elm trees and one maple tree, all with Dutch elm disease, salvaged from the onsite park. Rather than discard the trees, the community and project team chose to integrate them into the library in a process that would normally take years but would have to be completed in under 9 months. These 100-year-old trees were salvaged, milled, and incorporated into the library’s bar tops and stack bookends.

Sustainable project elements include solar panels on the roof providing the hot water load and 5% of the electrical load, efficient heating and cooling systems providing 30% energy reduction below code requirements, and stormwater plantings.