How do individual architects and designers keep up-to-date on the multitude of exterior and interior materials available to them? Our firm Librarian, Amanda Holmen explains our library system, which catalogues and tracks a number of products teams use throughout the design process.
Our materials libraries house the materials we use for both the architecture and interior of our projects. The libraries are living repositories where we keep samples such as glass, stone, terracotta and even unique assemblies. The library enables us to keep on hand items that provide staff with the look and feel of a product in person, rather than an image on a computer. By organizing the samples in a manner that collocates similar items together, it enables staff members to peruse the samples before ordering new samples. This cuts down on waste and duplicates or even triplicates of the same item. When a project team is finished with a sample, it can be returned to the library for another team to use.
Additionally, our interiors library contains samples as well as product literature ranging from solid surfacing and laminates to textiles and furnishings. The literature is cataloged, and the library catalog is accessible from any desktop in the studio, or even remote locations. If a colleague wants to know if we have a particular product in the library, they can search for the product by name and determine where the literature and samples are located in the library. Samples and literature are updated throughout the year, ensuring the collection is up to date. Samples are used in a variety of applications including generating ideas for palettes, and finish board presentations to clients. The library is organized to make locating items and information easy and is a lively space that is constantly in use by our interiors staff as they move through the various stages of a project.
Due to the visibility of our libraries within the studio, exploring the material is as much as part of the design process as a pin-up, alcove discussion or critique. Our interiors library is actually adjacent to our office’s kitchen, which facilitates many informal project discussions. We strive to integrate all aspects of the design process as seamlessly as possible – from the visible elements to rigorous research.
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.