Strang designed the vertical expansion of six floors over an existing first floor and basement of the Memorial Library. Because the site- located in a densely populated area with significant pedestrian traffic - was extremely constricted, our design employed limited staging. The library remained fully occupied and operational during construction and was completed ahead of schedule.

The addition contains two floors of compact, movable shelving to house more than 1,700,000 books. We incorporated structural transitioning to accommodate the 250 pounds per square foot in floor loading required to support the shelving. The Rare Books Complex includes reading areas, vaults, display space, general library stacks, and administrative offices.