VIEWFINDER: From Floor to Roof, Gilroy Library Construction Makes Progress

When Dan Johnson, Gilroy's library project manager, walks through the new public library construction site, he highlights some of its most robust features: heavily reinforced concrete beams, copper trim on the roof and load-bearing underground supports.

“The poor fool who demolishes this thing 100 years from now will have a heck of a time,” he said.

Gilroy’s new public library has passed some significant milestones since , including the completion of the technology-infused concrete slab that composes its floor and the tiles that have started to carpet its roof. 

When completed in the spring of 2012, the 53,500-square-foot building will feature 750 truckloads of concrete, 92 tons of tile and 380 tons of steel, according to a recent presentation on the project. It will replace the 9,000-square-foot temporary building on Monterey Street.

For all the material that has gone into the massive structure, the aspiring green building project has managed to recycle 94 percent of its waste, said Johnson. 

“This job has something for everybody,” said the project manager, including efforts to acquire LEED green building certification, develop automatic climate control and build a structure that will serve the city for decades.

One of the recent developments is the nearly finished installation of the yellow-colored fiberglass insulation on the exterior of the building, a practice Johnson said will help to regulate temperatures in the whole structure.

“If there was no insulation on the outside, that mass would get hot and stay hot,” he said.

Many of the building’s most iconic features—from its two-story atrium to the planned solar panels on its roof—were not part of the original design.

In the pursuit of the prestigious gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, architects used advanced computer modeling to design a system that ventilated the building naturally. The size of rooftop climate-control machinery was greatly reduced, making room for the skylight and an array of solar panels, according to a presentation by the project architects earlier this year.

A highly automated system will take over climate control duties, constantly monitoring conditions both inside the building and out and adjusting windows to promote natural airflow, said Johnson. 

The project is on track to cost $34 million, lower than the $37 million voters approved in 2008. Construction began in July of last year, and the Johnson said the community has been supportive, despite the noise.

"Not all construction is well received, but this is a library—it belongs to the community," he said.

Builders will test the windows this month. Expect to see the exterior continue to evolve heading into June, and check out the city’s live webcam to watch the project yourself. Viewers can log in with the user name “public” and the password “libcam.”

Check out the photo captions for more information about the features showcased in this recent check-in of the library building project.