The rehabilitation of the 1911 Homewood Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the first of a system-wide plan to update the library’s image and promote and standardize its services across the eighteen branches. The Homewood facility was the last of eight branch libraries in Pittsburgh, and Andrew Carnegie funded it.
The project, directed by Pfaffmann + Associates, was designed to preserve the building's exterior integrity while creating more appealing, functional, and user-friendly interior spaces. Interior rehabilitation removed non-contributing additions, made sensitive ADA accessibility alterations, installed more appropriate general and task-based lighting, redesigned the children’s reading room, and renovated the lower-level auditorium.
Exterior work, funded in part with a Pennsylvania Keystone Preservation grant, included cleaning and repointing masonry, repairing leaded windows, and repairing or replacing portions of the slate roof, copper roof flashing, and rain leaders. Surrounded by other architecturally significant buildings, the rehabilitated Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Homewood is once again a center of learning and neighborhood activity in the heart of a historic community.
