When the University of Chicago’s Joe and Rika Mansueto Library opens its doors in spring 2011 as planned, it will combine distinctive above-ground architecture with sophisticated underground support. Designed by Chicago architect Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Inc. and built by Barton Malow Co., the one-of-a-kind library will feature reading areas enclosed by a four-story glass-and-steel dome above a five-story-deep, climate-controlled underground storage vault that will protect and automatically deliver up to 3.5 million periodicals, books and rare research materials.
The Mansueto Library is being built at the heart of the University of Chicago campus, next to the Joseph Regenstein Library. To help keep irreplaceable research materials secure, the Mansueto Library’s only public entrance will be a 65-ft-long, glassed-in walkway connecting from the adjacent library.