Archives

1. Tulsa City-County Central Library

   The design team targeted three primary goals for the project: 1. Become a downtown destination that contributes to renewal of the urban core. 2. Create a library building that responds to 21st-century library needs. 3. Be generative, positively impacting library users, the surrounding community, the library industry, and the environment.

   To achieve these goals, the design team crafted a building program and architectural response that includes a revitalized, humanized civic plaza and new public garden for programming and community events; a clear, secure entry sequence in which all ways of entering the library collect into one main lobby area; a new parking garage; an interactive education center; a maker space; and a destination children’s library with direct access to the garden. Sustainable measures include improved thermal performance of the entire building envelope, daylight harvesting and lighting strategies, and the first rooftop photovoltaic solar array installed on a Tulsa building.

2. Norman Public Library East

   The first of two new libraries designed by MSR Design for the Pioneer Library System, the Norman Public Library East branch offers a new community experience inspired by Oklahoma’s iron rich topography, dramatic weather, red dust, and prairie. Located in an area previously without library service, the new building features highly flexible spaces that support collaborative learning, new education models, digital literacy, and information sharing. Registered for LEED v. 3 Silver certification, the project features a range of passive design measures, including a visible stormwater management process and local xeriscape plantings, orienting the building on the site to mitigate solar gain in summer, a thermally treated exterior, and clerestory windows that bring in daylight and direct light to the main entry sequence.

    

3. Madison Public Library Central Library

   The library has been completely transformed to adapt gracefully over time, provide a user-centric environment that addresses both customer and staff needs, and offer a community destination that enhances Madison’s cultural offerings. A huge success, the transformed library has become a popular and vibrant community amenity that has spurred urban redevelopment. Since its reopening in September 2013, the third floor spaces have been continuously booked for everything from art openings and concerts to fundraisers and weddings, and new businesses have opened on adjacent blocks, further increasing the vitality of a part of the city that was previously struggling.

   Potter Lawson served as associate architect, also providing cost estimating and electrical engineering for the project.

4. Louisville Free Public Library South Central Regional Library

   This library in the trees is the second of three new regional libraries to be added to the Louisville Free Public Library system as part of the facilities master plan prepared by MSR Design. A delicate insertion into a grove of trees, the building stands out in a region of Kentucky where clearcutting sites is standard practice. Tree preservation, daylight harvesting, and energy conservation serve as design guiding principles. The design team oriented the library on the site to take advantage of forest preservation, optimal solar access, and stormwater management. Areas for reading and gathering extend into the landscape through planned contemplative views and seating in the parking grove. Certified LEED-NC v. 3 Gold, the project includes a range of energy-saving measures.

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

    

    

5. Louisville Free Public Library Southwest Regional Library

   The construction employs a standardized structural steel frame, similar to those used in big box retail stores. The library design focuses on creatively using common materials. Standardized components—including modular masonry, window systems, and raised flooring—form a low maintenance, highly flexible public place. Through scale and a glowing beacon bay, the building establishes a presence in a fragmented environment of scattered building types along a highway. The open, transparent interior offers inviting spaces for different generations of people to experience and clear site lines for service efficiency and enhanced interactions between library staff and customers.

   MSR Design collaborated with architect JRA Architects and landscape architect MKSK on the project.

6. Meridian Library District Orchard Park Branch

   This new community library is designed to create connections in the community with a focus on removing barriers to access and expanding all-inclusive services and programs. In response to a public input process and focus group sessions with parents and local educators, the design team developed a design that supports the needs of neurodivergent community members, going beyond merely providing a dedicated sensory space to creating a holistic library experience approach focused on sound, durability, lighting, extension of tactile surfaces, and ease of building use. The library serves as a family-oriented gathering and learning center designed to inspire creativity and a sense of purpose.

7. K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library

   As a new living room for the city, the new building inspires and serves the needs of the community as a center of creativity, research, and collaboration. Its linear configuration along 3rd Avenue reflects the predominantly Craftsman/Prairie style vernacular of the railroad depots located in Aberdeen. Because of the many railroad lines that ran through the city, creating spokes connected to a hub, the City of Aberdeen is nicknamed the “Hub City.” Located near the heart of where those railroad lines first converged more than 100 years ago, the new library links the past to the future, becoming another kind of community hub, designed to connect and enrich patrons for many generations.

   CO-OP Architecture served as executive architect on the project.

8. Hennepin County Library–Maple Grove

   The seamless design fully integrates the library and park, while a lake provides renewable, hydrothermal energy for the building. The design integrates outdoor views and spaces (such as a reading porch) to create a strong inside-outside relationship and extend the experience beyond the library walls—connecting residents to information, the outdoors, and the larger community. The building was designed in accordance with the B3 State of Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines.

9. McAllen Main Library

   With an area equivalent to nearly 2 1/2 football fields, the building is the largest single-story library in the U.S. The designers had the old store interior and new mechanical systems painted white to form a neutral shell for patron and service areas, which are designated with color. Primary program areas—including community meeting rooms, the children’s library, adult services, and the staff area—are located in quadrants of the building. This clear organization allows easy wayfinding and customer access from a central service spine, delineated by a patterned wood ceiling that runs the length of the building.

   MSR Design led the design of the building interior and furniture selection as part of a team led by McAllen-based firm Boultinghouse Simpson Gates Architects.