Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

COLORADO COLLEGE TUTT LIBRARY EXPANSION & TRANSFORMATION

Pfeiffer

ARCHITECTS
Pfeiffer

AREA
94000 ft²

YEAR
2017

PHOTOGRAPHS
Steve Lerum

MANUFACTURERS
Decoustics, Swisspearl, Bison, Kawneer, Mannington, Rulon International, Shaw, Alucobond, AutoCAD, Live Roff, Midwest Cast Stone, Robert McNeel & Associates, Sonex, Trimble Navigation 

LEAD ARCHITECTS 
Pfeiffer

ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING
Kaplan Gehring McCarroll Architectural Lighting

CIVIL ENGINEERING
Classic Consulting Engineers & Surveyors LLC

CONTRACTOR
GH Phipps Construction Companies

MEP ENGINEERING
Farris Engineering

IT
The Sextant Group

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
HCDA Engineering

ACOUSTICS
The Sextant Group

LIBRARY AV/IT/ACOUSTICS
The Sextant Group

LANDSCAPE
N.E.S. Inc.

CLIENTS
Colorado College

AUDIO VIDEO
The Sextant Group

CATEGORY
University, Renovation, Sustainability

LOCATION
Colorado Springs, United States

DESIGN TEAM
Stephanie Kingsnorth, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Principal-in-Charge Gili Meerovitch, CID, IIDA, LEED AP, Principal, Interiors Natasha Brewer, IIDA, Associate, Interiors Jeremy Brunel, AIA, Project Designer Kevin O’Brien, AIA, Design Principal (former staff) Scott Parker, AIA, Project Architect (former staff)

Text description provided by architect.

Colorado College’s Expanded & Transformed Tutt Library is the Nation’s Largest 24/7 Carbon Neutral Net Zero 24/7 Academic Library.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

Designed by Walter Netsch in 1962, the original Tutt Library bore all the hallmarks of the then-dominant contemporary academic architectural style: brutalist and introverted—an enigmatic concrete box floating on inset walls of glass, all resting on an abstract plinth, separating the building from its site.

The expansion has transformed the Library into a dynamic facility, accommodating the requirements of contemporary library practice and the college’s unique academic program, The Block—an immersive academic schedule in which a single subject is studied for three and a half weeks, the equivalent of an entire semester’s material.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

Writing and reasoning centers, and 24/7 cutting-edge teaching and collaboration spaces have been established in the Library to provide support for The Block program.

Netsch’s original building was an intentionally introverted design; the design of the new Library turns this introversion inside -out, to better reflect its changing use, the values of Colorado College, and The Block’s academic calendar.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

This is expressed through the device of a red “ribbon”—referencing the locally mined sandstone—that `engages the addition at the ground level of the library’s west façade on Cascade Avenue and weaves around, over and down the existing Tutt Library, to create a dynamic dialogue between the old and the new.

It traces a graphic path through the new Library that culminates in the added 4th level reading area, which offers sweeping views of the Colorado range.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

Garden terraces on the western addition’s 2nd, 3rd, and the new 4th floors break down the original building’s mass and reinforce the indoor/outdoor nature of the space and its physical connection to Pike’s Peak and the Rocky Mountains while providing usable outdoor areas.

All the public areas in the library are located on the west elevation to reinforce this connection and take advantage of the views.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

The project is designed to achieve carbon-neutral net-zero sustainability, making Tutt the nation’s largest carbon-neutral, net-zero footprint 24/7 academic library.

The college’s commitment to carbon neutrality determined many of the design decisions and required continual consultation with the MEP engineers, on issues such as glazing placement. When the project achieved net-zero, it saved the campus over $83K annually.

Innovations include the utilization of a complex system of heat exchangers to optimize efficient heating and cooling and the ability to both export heat and power to campus and to the island from the electrical grid. 

Radiantly heated egress and terraces reduce snow removal maintenance and the geothermal heating and cooling system eliminates cooling tower maintenance.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

One of the goals of the renovation was to reestablish the original quad and reconnect the library to the campus, which was achieved by demolishing Tutt South, a 1980s addition.

Attention to open space, the transition between interior and exterior spaces, flexibility of space to support a variety of activities, and integration of programmed spaces encouraging social and intellectual interaction are addressed in the project.

Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
© Steve Lerum

Inside, Netsch’s concrete ceilings, crisp and beautifully thought out, were left intact, following the original lines and coffers of the building.


Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Site plan
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Plan - Lower floor
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Plan - 1st floor
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Plan - 2nd floor
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Plan - 3rd floor
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Plan - 4th floor


Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Diagram - East/West section
Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Diagram - East/West section


Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion & Transformation
Exploded axonometric