West Chester Library

The West Chester Library is an anchor of the Town Centre in this Cincinnati suburban community.  The 54,000-square-foot facility was designed with both current and future uses in mind.

The library includes wireless technology, over 190,000 periodicals, books, media resources and equipment, an auditorium, study rooms, gathering spaces, and a café with a patio overlooking the retention lake. KLH Engineers provided full mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and communication technology engineering designs for this project. The HVAC design consisted of dual hot water gas boilers and a central air-cooled chiller with pumps and piping to four pipe air handlers with ducted hot water distribution. A central building automation system was installed for control and efficiency. Duct silencers and sound walls were utilized to inhibit sound transmission from the main mechanical room. Designed using Revit MEP, this project utilized complete coordination during design with structure, architecture and MEP systems.

The lighting design of this new facility addressed the needs of two distinct, yet complimentary spaces; the reference area and the reading areas. The reference area is illuminated utilizing fluorescent sources in linear pendant luminaires. The reading areas are located in a space surrounded by high clerestory windows. The electric lighting in the reading areas is provided by pendant luminaires utilizing long high output compact fluorescent lamps. This lighting system is fully dimmable as part of the daylight harvesting system in these spaces, providing required illuminance levels and reduced energy consumption. The use of occupancy sensors in private offices offers additional energy savings from the building’s lighting system.