DESIGN TREND  From Grand to Intimate Experiences

In addition to atriums, grand staircases or double-height entryways, libraries are creating more human-scale experiences with nooks, custom millwork, and drop-ceiling treatments that help to scale entrances to interior spaces, service areas, and quiet reading spaces to be people-sized, friendly, and welcoming. Broad walkways offer sightlines that are anchored with seating or areas to connect and mingle. 

1. Forming a large circular floorplate, the Vickery Park Branch Library, Dallas, wraps bookshelves, window nooks, and curtain walls throughout its interior, featuring a global mural in the children’s area and brightly colored soft seating. CREDITS: DSGN Associates Inc., architect; Chad Davis, photo. 

2. The Falmouth Memorial Library, ME, was founded in a small house purchased in 1951. A recent expansion nearly doubled the library’s size, connecting the two wings of the building and visually echoing the gabled residential design of the library’s beginnings. CREDITS: Simons Architects, architect; Ryan Bent Photography, photo. 

3. A reading space at the Felton Branch Library, Santa Cruz Public Library, CA, offers plush inset carpeting in an oriental design, moulded Eames-inspired seating, and rattan-style lighting anchoring a residential feel within the library space. CREDITS: Noll & Tam Architects; Teall Messer Architect, architects; Ethan Kaplan Photography, photo. 

4. At the Yorba Linda Library and Cultural Arts Center, CA, suspended LED lights create a streetscape-like experience traveling between adjacent buildings, pocketed with outdoor seating areas and spaces for live music performances. CREDITS: Group 4 Architecture, architect; William Tatham, photo.