Library Buildings around the World

to automatically sort returned media. This project demonstrates what can be dramatically produced on a low budget and how a
library can share a building with other uses—the facility also houses a 4,000 SF interpretive center, operated by Maricopa County
Park District staff, which includes animal displays and exhibits designed to educate visitors and provide them a better experience as
they explore the 30,000 acre regional park. (DWL)
Appaloosa Branch Library, Scottsdale, AZ – USA 2009
Awards:
2010 AIA Western Mountain Region Design Honor Award
2010 AZRE magazine ‘RED’ (Real Estate Development) Most Sustainable Project
2010 Environmental Design + Construction (ED+C) Excellence in Design Award – Government Honorable Mention
2010 Building of America Award - Gold Medal Winner and Featured Case Study
Literature:
Feb. 2010 Metal Architecture magazine
Designed in collaboration with Douglas Sydnor Architect and Associates, the Appaloosa Branch Library design theme celebrates the
environment in a protected desert setting. Building finishes play with light like a mirage in northern Scottsdale’s upper Sonoran
Desert. The library’s central location in a new community will establish itself as a cultural focal point for new and old residents alike.
Rising from a very functional plan, the 21,500 s.f. library concentrates its interior drama in a single large Reading Room that is 70
feet wide and 130 feet long. The space is naturally lit with indirect light that changes during the day but rarely enters the room
directly. Sunsets will color the whole room with changing shades of pink and orange, while thunderstorms will be visible wherever
they occur. The Reading Room is separated from staff spaces and meeting rooms by a massive geologically-layered concrete wall.
Rooms along the south side are wrapped in iridescent metal and float a few feet above the arroyo. At the west end, the building digs
into the earth, but at the east end it opens onto a patio with filtered views of the McDowell Mountains. (DWL)
Burton Barr Central Library, Phoenix, AZ – USA 2004
Awards:
1997 AIA Excellence for Library Architecture
1996 Benedictus Award for Ingenuity in the Use of Glass Presented by DuPont in Association with the AIA
1995 AIA Western Mountain Region Honor Award
1995 AIA Central Arizona Chapter
1995 Valley Forward Association Environmental Excellence Award: Public Assembly Buildings & Structures
1995 Library Association Award
The Burton Barr Library demonstrates an award-winning collaboration with Will Bruder (see: http://willbruder.com) that
successfully responds to site, program and budget considerations, while creating a symbolic destination for downtown Phoenix.
Innovation abounds in this design: a tension structure suspends the roof above the building’s columns and side walls; sensors
regulate a computerized louver system on the building’s glazed south side, reducing solar heat gain; and the building’s five-story
atrium is topped by 22 skylights, which track the sun’s movement and ensure constant natural daylight. All this is augmented by a
modular lighting system so efficient it received the largest energy conservation rebate ever awarded by the local utility company,
Arizona Public Service. (DWL)
Glendale Foothills Library, Glendale, AZ – USA 1999
Awards:
2000 Valley Forward Association Environmental Excellence Merit Award
2000 Metal Architecture Interior Honor Award
1999 Arizona Masonry Guild – Excellence in Masonry Award
DWL designed the library’s curved floor plan in response to the constraints of its site. With approximately five acres to
accommodate the building and required site elements, the curve prevented the library from appearing cramped between its access
road and the neighboring park. The primary design goal for this project was to eliminate damaging direct sunlight. North-facing
window walls admit indirect light, and the east and west walls feature “lizard eyes”—protruding wall sections housing north-facing
windows. Internally, the curved walls create the illusion that there is always something more to see around the bend. Floor patterns,
furnishings and artwork echo this free-formed theme. Through its use of indigenous materials, such as copper and brickwork laid in
a Native American basket weave pattern, the library’s exterior exemplifies a new Southwestern regionalism. The tri-color pattern
integrates the building into its desert environment, matching the colors of nearby hills, rocks and grasses. Spectacular mountain
views and desert landscape integrate the form of the building with its surrounding area. (DWL)
Earl Corporation, Irwindale, CA – USA
http://www.earlcorp.com
Libraries:
Huntington Munger Research Center, San Marino, CA – USA 2004
Renovation (Elmer Grey / Myron Hunt – Los Angeles 1909 – 1911 / 1998 Pritzker Architecture Prize on the spectacular and historic
grounds)
90.000 sqf.
Working closely with curators, photographers, and manuscript conservationists this three-story, 90,000-square-foot research facility
was designed with every detail in mind. As the new home to one of the world’s most important collections of historical manuscripts
and rare books, special touches abound. Climate-controlled reading rooms, galleries, a photographic studio and digital imaging
laboratory make this one of the top research libraries in the world. (Earl)
EDGE Studio, Pittsburgh, PA – USA
http://www.edge-studio.com
Libraries:
East Liberty Branch Library, Pittsburg, PA – USA 2010
Client : Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, LEED Silver Certification
Awards:
The project received a 2011 AIA Pittsburgh chapter award
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