Archives

  1. 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.

     

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

     

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.