Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center

This neighborhood library and community center is comprised of two buildings joined together with the intention that they function as a whole. One building is a historically significant bungalow built as a residence in 1917, sited prominently on the corner of S. Broad Street and Napoleon Avenue. The bungalow was salvaged after Hurricane Katrina and raised for future flood prevention, and the modern addition was completed in 2012. The new combined library and community center serves the Broadmoor community by providing residents with a 21st century library, community center, gathering space, and valuable educational resource.

SMM provided the landscape architectural design for the library renovations. The front of the building features a learning wetland garden which filters and cleans water coming from the roof of the building. The back “reading room” courtyard features a wood deck around existing trees and decomposed granite courtyards.

The water from all of the roof surfaces is integrated into the landscape in a series of detention basins and Rain Gardens. This project is a demonstration of the potential for municipal spaces in New Orleans to help remedy localized flooding and reduce pressure on the aging infrastructure of the city. Of interest is the incorporation of stormwater from a new addition as well as from an existing building renovation. The existing library building was retrofitted with a roof drainage system that was tied into the overall stormwater strategy.