The Henry Madden Library at CSU Fresno is perhaps the most high profile new building in the San Joaquin Valley. It surely is has become a landmark building and destination of the Fresno State campus.

The Madden Library warrants a full detailed review, which my take sometime. However, recently a note was posted to the Library’s Facebook page that we found of interest.

The sound issue with the stairs has been a lightning rod for discussion. The metal mesh stairs cantilevering in a large volume. Architects AC Martin Partners in association with RMJM Hillier chose the metal mesh on the stair are part of a reoccurring theme, intended to evoke the qualities of Native American basket weaving. The linear stairway the runs the length of the building and is one of the primary interior features.

In some ways it takes on the qualities of a Native American percussion instrument more than the qualities of a Native American basket. Though we have word that the stairs were heavily value engineered so it was not built the way it was detailed/designed. That said, the expanded lath isn’t adhered to the frame and stringers so each time you take a step, it pushes the extruded metal down against the metal.

Perhaps it is a post justification of a flawed design that the modern library is not the whisper quiet space that it once was. However, the results from the Institute of Public Anthropology’s study of student needs for the library interior showed that students desire “loud areas”. Area that students feel free to socialize and collaborate.

So what are your thoughts? Have you spent time in the new Library? Was the sound of people walking on the stairs distracting from what you were doing? Has the Library’s design balanced aesthetics and function? What are potential solutions?