Blogging pause

Philip Johnson will be upset with me, but I am going on vacation. Blogging will resume on 04 July.

A close-up. This is outside of the elevator of the basement floor, where our electrical cabinet is.

Posted by Bart

They systems guys are running the pipes for the new a/c, and putting in electrical.

Posted by Bart

Today they were putting the finishing touches on the walls of the North stacks section.

Posted by Bart

Something Edgar Allan Poe-ish about this picture.

Posted by Bart

This is the old server room, now the area where the fire escape will start.

Posted by Bart

View of the North library stacks section today.

Posted by Bart

This is the stuff they are using to cover the bricks (note how my grasp of construction jargon is improving by leaps and bounds).

Posted by Bart

These are the Gazbeton bricks being used.

Posted by Bart

A close-up of the net/cement coating.

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This is inside the North library stacks room. The Gazbeton bricks have been covered with a net material, then smoothed over with cement.

Posted by Bart

This is the wall in the student lounge which faces the library. What you see on the other side is our heating/cooling systems room (boiler room).

Posted by Bart

The last few days of progress have been very encouraging. The library basement is shaping up nicely, and we haven't had any more strange surprises. This picture shows what used to be the Student Lounge. The door on the right will be the new server room, the two doors on the left (you can see one) are the bathrooms.

Posted by Bart

Student lounge again, but the view from the elevator, towards the library.

Posted by Bart

This is the ex-student lounge, which is now an extension of the library, plus storage deposit.

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This is the new space for the bookstore.

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This is the view from the inside of the North stacks section (where our periodicals area used to be)

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This is the view as you come down the library stairs into the basement. Last Thursday and Friday, the construction crew built the fire protection walls around the North half of the library basement.

Posted by Bart

We are storing much of the library furniture in the auditorium.

Posted by Bart

No, that's not Saddam.

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They are loading the materials through what I am now referring to as "Saddam's spider hole".

Posted by Bart

The materials are pouring in.

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They're tearing down the old air ducts in the library basement. The place is absolutely unrecognizable. Note the tiles of the old bathrooms in the center of the picture.

Posted by Bart

The fire escape begins in the basement
Posted by Bart

The beginnings of the fire-escape
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A close-up of the armored cement
Posted by Bart

Another interesting discovery yesterday. Turns out the balcony of the mezzanine consists of a single armored cement wall that runs across the top of the main room. It will be a lot messier to knock out than originally expected. The structural engineers are having a look to see if it's absence will change the loadbearing capability of the mezzanine.
Posted by Bart

The student lounge is no longer recognizable. They found water permeating the wall in the Northwest corner, which seems to be coming from the crawlspace which runs along the perimeter of the basement. We've always attributed these to rainwater filtering in, or to the irrigation system of the library garden, but Gollini thinks it's a pipe in the wall. They're checking it out.

Posted by BC Director of Finance & Admin

They've opened up the sewers as well.

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Same view from the back (library basement)

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The walls in the library basement are starting to disappear.

Posted by BC Director of Finance & Admin

Here is the load-bearing wall in question. This is the latest solution from the architect, to be discussed Monday.

Posted by BC Director of Finance & Admin

One step forward, two steps back

This morning we discovered that the wall of the computer lab (which was supposed to be knocked down to make way for the mezzanine bookshelves) is, contrary to the prior architect's blueprints, loadbearing. Now, just as demolition in the basement was going full-steam ahead, we have to go back to the drawing board, and redo the layout of the basement shelving.

Then, just as we had closed the deal on Wednesday for compact shelving, the architect discovered several columns in that area of the basement that weren't on the original designs either. Now we have to redo the layout of the compact shelving, hoping that our provider doesn't use this as an excuse to move back their "guaranteed delivery & installation date", around which the remaining work of the library is predicated. Here's hoping.

The student lounge

Posted by BC Director of Finance & Admin

The library garden, construction entrance and future fire escape exit to street

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The reference area of the library from above

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The reference area/main room of the library

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The offices of the staff (when entering, on the left)

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The entrance to the library

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The Mezzanine study area

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The roof of the mezzanine study area gutted out

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More library basement

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The library basement before they started knocking the walls down

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