Have you seen the inside of the new Hunt Library on Centennial Campus? What looks awesome from the outside is even more magnificent on the inside. Boasting state-of-the-art technology the Hunt Library is a game-changer for Raleigh. Collaborative spaces around the globe will envy this space, right here in the heart of the Creative District.
The tour of the library, scheduled to open on January 2, 2013, started in robot alley—the entrance with the view of the bookBot robots that scale 50-feet up and down the futurized book stacks. I was with a group of associates from Red Hat, touring the almost-finished space. We previously toured the library in June 2011.
We took a peak inside the central server room (sorry no pictures), where stacks of servers provide enough computing power inside the library, essentially providing a private cloud powered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
We followed the yellow pathway inside the library, aka, the yellow-brick road, to view the grand entrance hall, the Apple technology showcase, the Immersion Theater, and the main reading room. Wow, what a view. We even took a quick look at the new space for the Institute for Emerging Issues. Jealous!
On the third floor, there is a game lab and the learning commons. Then, on the fourth floor, there is a graduate student commons (restricted to only graduate students), a creativity studio with movable walls and flexible technology for design, and a teaching and visualization lab with high resolution, immersive projection, 3-D technology, a zoned audio system, and sophisticated cameras. I’m pretty sure the visualization lab was the Star Trek holodeck.
We ended the tour with a great view of Lake Raleigh from the faculty and research commons. The rooftop garden was a great reminder of the first LEED Silver certified building on Centennial Campus. I hope you enjoy the sneak preview of the Hunt Library.
Fun facts
- The East wall facing the “Oval” is over 300 feet long and 50 feet high, the largest span of glass in the library
- The bookBot capacity is 2 million items
- The auditorium seats 390 people