Design | Jessie Ball duPont Center

Design

THE ARCHITECT–TAYLOR HARDWICK (July 15, 1925 – September 27, 2014)

The Jacksonville library trustees commissioned Taylor Hardwick of Hardwick & Lee, Architects, to design the new library in the early 1960s.

During his 60-year career, Hardwick designed many of the most notable structures in Jacksonville. Among his portfolio are the Friendship Fountain, the memorable Skinner’s Dairy drive-thru stores with their flaring roofs, a host of private residences and commercial buildings and several schools.

“Most would agree that the magnum opus of Hardwick’s sixty-year career is the Haydon Burns Public Library,” writes architectural historian Wayne Wood in the foreword to Taylor Hardwick: 60 Years of Design. It is “an icon of its era,” he writes. “The art and architecture of Taylor Hardwick will stand the test of time.”

In October 2013, Hardwick toured the then-vacant Haydon Burns Library with staff of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, which had just purchased the building, and architects from KBJ, who would be responsible for the building’s transformation into the Jessie Ball duPont Center. His affection for the building was evident as he recounted detail after detail of the project. “I think it’s wonderful that you want to do this,” he said.

A Jacksonville treasure gets new life for a new era

The historic building that now houses the Jessie Ball duPont Center is a notable structure in Florida architecture. It is included in the Florida's AIA's 100 Years 100 Places roster, and the AIA notes: "[The structure] is an outstanding example of a uniquely designed building of the Modern era that successfully integrated art and technology in order to address very specific needs and site parameters."

In fact, architect Taylor Hardwick faced a number of challenges in designing the building, according to Taylor Hardwick: 60 Years of Design. The site rises eight feet from south (Forsyth Street) to north (Adams Street). The structure needed to diffuse sunlight and glare and sustain winds up to 150 mph. And it needed accommodate the extraordinary weight of hundreds of thousands of books.

To accommodate the slope, Hardwick designed gardens and tree wells on the south facade and created space for a below-ground level.

The building's iconic cast concrete fins, 19 feet long, "provide breeze turbulence for reducing thermal transmission and to create shadow patterns." They contain particles of mica to help shed dirt and grime. On the south wall, a bronze sunscreen fits between the fins, proving shade without limiting light or ventilation. (Taylor Hardwick: 60 Years of Design.)

Despite its extremely substantial construction, seen from a distance, the building appears to be a finned box, floating above the foundation.