Martin County | Peter & Julie Cummings Library

About This Project

The Peter & Julie Cummings Library is shared by a diverse community, and is often used simultaneously by mothers & children, pre-teens, teenagers and adults. This diversity was central to the design evolution, compelling the design to respond to the distinctly different needs of the user groups, while maintaining a unified identity.

The two story entry volume is the central communication space, providing a visual and physical experience, access to the circulation desk, the WiFi café, reading areas and media centers. Vertically and horizontally, this space bisects and links the addition and the existing library, connecting it visually to the upper floors and to the environment.

A wetland preserve dominates the east half of the site. This strong ecological element was integral to the design solution, however by its very nature precluded, encroaching on it. The response is a juxtaposition of the built environment and the natural. The building is situated as close to the preserve as possible, visually engaging the wetlands through the use of expansive glass. Cantilevered portions of the building extend over the wetland accentuating the interaction between the man-made and nature, without disrupting the wetland habitat.