To ensure the new library was in keeping with the rest of the Academy campus, the design documents developed by the faculty committee specified the use of various materials, including that the library be brick. Materials used in construction of the Class of 1945 Library therefore include:
Brick made in Exeter, NH
Eno, the local company that made the brick, closed its doors to the public in 1965 and went out of business in 1966. The Academy bought up their supply, two million bricks of a roughly textured, waterstruck brick, and used it in the construction of the new library and Elm Street Dining Hall. 420,000 exterior face bricks are used in the library, while 300,000 interior face bricks are used. In addition, approximately 41,000 common bricks were used, as well as small quantities that went into fireplaces, etc.
Slate from Pennsylvania
Specifications for New Library and Dining Hall, Phillips Exeter Academy states all slate should be “unfading blue-black, natural cleft," from the Buckingham-Virginia Slate Corp.
Granite from Vermont
Specifications for New Library and Dining Hall, Phillips Exeter Academy states the granite should be “Rockport, … quarried by Providence Granite Company, Providence, Rhode Island."
Travertine Marble from Carrera, Italy
The gray-white travertine is used on the floor of the central hall (Rockefeller Hall) and main entrance staircase.
Poured Concrete
The specifications for the library state, “the quality of concrete work will largely determine the quality of architecture"1 and go on to say, “Accordingly, concrete must have not only the required strength but also the desired appearance. Exposed concrete shall not be patched or dressed in any way after removal of forms. Make all effort to avoid honeycombing."2 As a result, the concrete work was left untouched “once the forms had been stripped, showing the cavities left by the form ties, and the raised ridges that revealed where joints between the pieces of formwork had occurred."3
The two large cross beams at the top of the central hall are of 165 tons of poured concrete. All the concrete in the central hall plays a part in supporting the building; none is decorative. In addition, the concrete pad on which the building is constructed because of poor soil conditions was the single largest pouring of concrete ever done in one day in New Hampshire.
The total amount of concrete used in the library is estimated to be approximately 5,621 cubic yards, of which a little over 1,000 cubic yards are in the basement slab, which averages 2’ 2" thick. Normally, you can figure a cubic yard of concrete to weigh 4,000 pounds.
Reinforced Steel
Approximately 501 tons.
Teak
Exterior woodwork. The teak was left unfinished, to weather naturally.
White oak
Interior millwork. The oak was treated with only a light coat of oil as a preservative.
Wall-to-wall carpeting
18 tons of three different colors.
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