Two terraces will be carved into the swooping, ceramic-clad facade of this public library that architecture firm Snøhetta has designed for Charlotte, North Carolina.
Snøhetta revealed yesterday its plans to replace the existing Main Library branch of the city's Charlotte Mecklenburg Library organisation on the same site at Tryon and 6th Street. Clark Nexsen will be the architect-of-record.
The project was initiated to reinvigorate the activities of the 116-year-old institution, in a bid to boost the burgeoning development and cultural scene in the neighbourhood Uptown Charlotte. As part of the change, the new Charlotte Mecklenburg Main Library will be designed offer a more diverse programme for the local community.

Snøhetta's five-storey proposal has a curved front that steps the building back from Tryon street to create space for a public plaza underneath. Ceramic panels, which the firm chose to reference North Carolina's earthenware and artisanry, will cover the upper levels of the slanted facade with perforations allowing  for natural light to filter inside. Glass will wrap the ground floor of the building, which straightens along 6th Street.
Two terraces will be carved out of the form of the Main Library, with one on the top floor and the other above the first level. The latter will separate the ground floor and a glazed, three-storey volume that protrudes on the corner. Snøhetta describes it as the building's "prow".

The variety of views that the buil...