Archives

1. Sno-Isle Libraries Langley Library

   This renovation of a cherished library addresses a range of needs identified during a public and staff engagement process and sets the stage for the future of library services in the community. The interior renovation includes a new floor opening that connects the main and lower levels through a stair and wheelchair lift to improve circulation and access throughout the building. A clerestory dormer in the center introduces natural daylight into the building and views to the outdoors. Other features include new reading nooks and a reinvigorated, interactive children’s area. Minimizing the use of excessive material finishes, the design team selected materials that adhere to environmental and health standards, including compliance with Environmental Product Declarations (EDP) and Health Product Declarations (HPD), as well as avoiding ILFI Red List materials. The exterior includes a new ADA ramp and stair to improve accessibility.

    

2. Missoula Public Library

   The new building houses four other community organizations (MCAT, Families First Learning Lab, SpectrUM Discovery Area, and the University of Montana Living Lab) to create a library, museum, and science and community center that blends Missoula’s rich heritage with world-class innovations all under one roof. The design process involved an intensive week-long visioning session with leadership from the library and partner organizations to establish project goals and guiding principles. The main floor offers a marketplace with a cafe, retail store, new library materials, and the audiovisual collection; a makerspace; MCAT’s high tech production studio, equipment check-out services, and sound booths; a teens’ area; and the University of Montana Living Lab. Focused on children, families, and play, the second floor houses the Hank and Nancy Harrington Children’s Library, Families First Learning Lab, SpectrUM Disovery Area, and a mix of collaborative learning spaces shared by the partner organizations. The third floor includes a demonstration kitchen, reference services, fiction and nonfiction collections, a business center, and genealogy center. The top floor provides spaces for public engagement and gathering and access to an exterior patio.

   MSR Design served as design architect and interior designer, and A&E Design was the architect of record.

    

    

3. Hennepin County Library Southdale Library & Edina Art Center

   This new regional library and art gallery will serve as an extension of an 8-acre urban green space, featuring a trailhead for regional trails, activated terrain, native plantings, and wetland gardens. A partnership between the Hennepin County Library and Edina Art Center, the new building will showcase how these community organizations are better together. The library and arts center is designed to meet the ambitious goals of Hennepin County’s Climate Action Plan and the State of Minnesota’s B3 sustainable guidelines. A combination of passive design, a high-performance façade, efficient building systems, and on-site renewables will enable the project to achieve near net-zero energy. The completed design will include a spectrum of restorative landscapes, from open water within the low areas of the site to wet prairies, a freshwater marsh, tallgrass prairies, and oak barrens. The library and arts center will also serve as a trailhead for the Nine Mile Creek regional trail system and provide a missing link in the Edina Promenade to connect local parks and regional assets.

4. L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library

   Design guiding principles for this library building transformation included creating a destination for the region that serves as the heart of the city and linking the building to the Eau Claire River and downtown civic facilities. Stakeholder-directed improvements include a 200-seat program space, an expanded children’s area, a mix of meeting rooms, quiet spaces for study, space for tweens and teens, and a learning lab. Inclusive design elements include aspects that support neurodiversity, gender-inclusive toilet rooms, and comfort rooms.

   A makerspace called the Dabble Box and innovation lab spaces provide access to specialized technology, teaching kitchen equipment, and art equipment to support maker sessions, STEAM-based education, and nutrition literacy. All major building systems, dating back to 1975, were replaced with more efficient and sustainable systems, including a geothermal heating and cooling system that runs below the plaza. Redesigned vertical circulation provides more intuitive wayfinding and better visual connections between all four floors.

5. Fayetteville Public Library

   This expansion to a community library, originally designed by MSR Design, redefines the traditional public library model, providing enhanced educational opportunities, services, and innovative programming for all ages. The expansion follows the sloping topography sited below the existing building to create a three-sided courtyard with local plantings that serves as a new public gathering space.

   The addition includes a 700-seat, flexible event center that serves as a full-function auditorium; additional meeting and group study spaces; greatly expanded youth services; an innovation center with audio recording studio, video recording studio, editing suites, virtual reality studio, photography studio, a simulation lab, and a fabrication and robotics lab; an art and movement room; an expanded children’s library; a private teens-only lounge and gaming center; a green roof; a commercial teaching kitchen for cooking classes and food production; and a deli that serves the community.

6. Bentonville Public Library Expansion

   This expansion to a beloved community library will offer more amenities and unique opportunities to learn, connect, gather, and participate in enriched programming. The expansion will reflect the community library’s values, including reading and education (focusing on all forms of learning for all ages, backgrounds, and abilities), arts and culture, bicycling and trails, connections to nature, collaboration, human services, and equitable access. New features will include an expanded children’s area with storytime space and craft area; a centrally-located, flexible makerspace; an expanded teens’ zone; additional meeting rooms; and an expanded Friends bookstore.

7. Sno-Isle Libraries Darrington Library

   This renovation project will provide new and enhanced library services to the Darrington community. Library design features resulted from an extensive public engagement process to reflect community needs and a truly local context. It is the first Sno-Isle Libraries project to implement elements from the Capital Framework, Design Guidelines, and Signage Standards that MSR Design developed with the library. The renovated building will include an enclosed study room, a business center, a storytime room, and outdoor space, which is connected to the existing meeting room for maximum flexibility.

8. Songdo International City Library Design Competition

   MSR Design’s design competition submission for the Songdo International City Library proposes 21st-century library services in a series of 24/7 spaces connected to the public park system. The dramatic engagement of a spiraling park connects all four levels of service together through outdoor public programming that can operate day and night. A central community core and high performing building enclosure ensure daylight reaches all library spaces and promote connectivity between generations. The flexible library spaces between the community core and park areas are designed to accommodate active and passive activities, while allowing direct access to information.

9. Louisville Free Public Library Northeast Regional Library

   Located adjacent to a historic house and landscape, Louisville Free Public Library’s third regional library brings service to an outlying region of the city. Conceived as a pavilion in a park, the building offers sweeping views of the park and historic site. It features a special technology-driven classroom, highly flexible reading room, makerspace with audiovisual lab and demonstration kitchen, and a college corner in the teens’ area. A column-free interior, multi-function access flooring, and rooms enclosed by movable furnishings support adaptability to meet perpetually evolving library demands and ambitions. Sustainable design strategies contributing to the building’s LEED-NC v.3 Gold certification include siting the building to take advantage of natural daylight and a geothermal mechanical system, among numerous others. Circulation for the first month of operation broke the library system’s previous record by 25%.

   MSR Design collaborated with architect JRA Architects and landscape architect MKSK.

10. Norman Public Library Central

    Together with the new Norman Public Library East Library, the new central library furthers the city’s “Norman Forward” citizen-initiated goals to fund and create quality of life projects for the community. It serves as a new town hall with shared community spaces, conference rooms, a technology lab, a genealogy research workspace, and a multipurpose room that can accommodate a range of events. The new library provides highly flexible spaces for collaborative learning, new education models, digital literacy, and information sharing, including a makerspace. Sky and plinth design elements represent the intersection of Oklahoma’s iron rich topography and open sky of the prairie. The courtyard features a specially commissioned sculpture entitled “Unbound” created by London artist Paul Cocksedge. Registered for LEED-NC v.3 Silver certification, the project features a range of passive design strategies, including a visible stormwater management system with interpretive signage to educate visitors about the process, optimized daylighting and shading, and orientation of the building on the site to mitigate solar gain.