Richmond Hill Community Library, Queens, NY

Together with Marpillero Pollak Architects, Assemblage is collaborating on a new design for the Richmond Hill Library landscape. Surrounding an historic building from 1905 by architects Tuthill and Higgins, the new proposed landscape envisions a welcoming and engaging space for library visitors and the greater Richmond Hill community. Access to the landscape is opened by a new network of paths and a reading terrace for open air reading and gathering in new native plant gardens that support local urban ecology. The design signals a transition away from an unoccupiable area behind a fence to an occupiable public greenspace for the surrounding community. The design features a shaded reading garden with water feature, rain gardens, a sunny grass meadow, and a birch grove with stepped-terraces that overlooks the historic Richmond Hill Train station viaduct.