Photo by ElvertBarnes

Photo by ElvertBarnes

And then there were ten.

The city has narrowed a field of potential firms to renovate the Martin Luther King Jr. Library down to ten. An August call for Request for Qualifications elicited 26 responses, according to a release from D.C. Public Library. The ten firms’ proposals are due in November and will be preceded by an October 28 pre-submittal conference. Three firms will be selected in December for the final round.

No firms are expected to submit design concepts during this round. Instead, proposals will be judged by a team of library, urban planning, architecture and preservation experts that will look at the firms’

  • Senior personnel assigned to the project and their experience on designing and completing major libraries and obtaining appropriate approvals from D.C. and federal review agencies
  • Approach to managing the project, developing the project budget, managing the costs and schedule while ensuring the final design meets budget requirements, and addressing key challenges that are inherent in the project
  • Ability to meet or exceed the District’s Certified Business Enterprise participation rate of 35 percent

    • The big question is what exactly to do with the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed space. The Urban Land Institute proposed that the building be turned into a mix-used development with two additional floors. This idea will be strongly opposed by the Ralph Nader-backed D.C. Library Renaissance Project, as Housing Complex reported.

    In the release, DCPL said “no decisions have been made on the type or the extent of the renovations or additions to the library.”

    The selected firm will aid library staff and consultants in exploring the options outlined in an assessment done by the Urban Land Institute in fall 2011. These options include renovating the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library as a stand-alone library or as a mixed-use with additional floors.

    DCPL is also looking for community input on the library’s potential spaces and services, including if the library should have a cafe. (Yes.) Feedback can be submitted here.

    Here are the selected firm:
    Cunningham Quill Architects/100 Architects
    Ennead Architects/Marshall Moya Architects
    Leo A. Daly/Richard Bauer
    Martinez and Johnson Architects/Mecano Architects
    OMA/Quinn Evans Architects
    Patkau Architects/Ayers Saint Gross
    REX/Davis Carter Scott Architects
    Shalom Baranes/Davis Brody Bond
    Skidmore Owings & Merrill
    Studios Architecture/The Freelon Group

    Filed Under: dc public library, dcpl, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, mlk memorial library,