roofmeadow

Oaklyn Branch Library

Evansville, Indiana

Oaklyn Branch Library

A unique earth-sheltered building with a "green-roof" that merges into its encompassing site.  The design process and design solution are an innovative response to a dramatic though difficult site.

In 2001, the Evansville Vanderburgh County Public Library conducted a series of design charettes for the Oaklyn Branch public library. 

A unique design concept emerged that integrated architecture and landscape architecture. 

To accommodate the steeply sloping site the building was proposed to be earth-sheltered with a green roof as a meadow. A shallow-depth, high-tech solution was sought to minimize the dead weight loads of traditional roofscapes. This is an energy-efficient and cost-effective design for a challenging site.

The site slopes over twenty feet from Oak Hill Road down to the Pigeon Creek valley.  An early concept emerged to blend the roof structure into the landscape and to demonstrate an ecologically-sensitive design to fit the educational mission of the Library.  In September 2002 a 17,200 SF "green roof" was installed on the one-story library building.  The roof supports a Mesic Meadow Prairie plant community that blends into a prairie meadow on the surrounding site.

The prairie meadow is gracefully edged with a meandering turf line that sweeps down to the lower level.  The resulting landscape has a high habitat value.  The masonry construction of the building harmonizes with the natural plant palette.

The two-layer green roof system closely mimics the natural conditions associated with shallow soil over shale bedrock, a native environment for the Mesic Meadow Prairie [more].

preliminary section [view]

architect's model [view]

download power point show [here]

need directions to Oaklyn Branch Library? view directions here

Green Roof's in the News: NPR Story: June 23, 2004

design team