Atelier Pagnamenta Torriani

This elementary school which serves more than 700 students has been open since the 1890s and is located within the historic C.B.J. Snyder building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, facing the neighborhood’s Carnegie Library.

The library at this elementary school is located within the historic 1895 C.B.J. Snyder building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, facing the neighborhood’s Carnegie Library. The school wanted us to create flexible spaces with a contemporary flair. APT decided to incorporate existing historic elements into a contemporary design that created a variety of new spaces where students, teachers, and parents could study, lounge and discuss.

We kept the historic aspects intact but added a new high undulating ceiling with integrated lighting, wood paneling with inbuilt shelving, and poured seamless flooring.

A stepped niche at the windowed corner became the storytelling area, with low storage for children. Computer tables were placed near the librarian’s desk. The sequence of spaces is articulated by modular and movable furniture that can be reconfigured easily, providing the client with the desired flexibility.

The new discrete LED lighting, the environmentally friendly and healthy materials and technologies throughout the renovated space make this library a bridge between community traditions and contemporary standards

Publications & Exhibitions

2013 ArchDaily "Public School 158 Bayard Taylor Library"
2013 Plataforma Arquitectura "Library of the Public School Bayard Taylor"
2012 CultureNOW "Public School 158 Bayard Taylor Library"
2012 Open House New York, Featured Site

This project is part of Atelier Pagnamenta Torriani’s architectural acupuncture interventions in NYC: a transformative series of public school libraries that are expanding their educational purpose by rebuilding communities through culture.