The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association will award six libraries with the 2019 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards for excellence in architectural design. You will find each project and a brief description from the AIA below. For more information, click the project name or image.
1. Albion Public Library, Toronto, Canada
Perkins + Will Canada Inc.
Photo: Double Space Photography.
Situated in one of Toronto’s post-war suburbs, this new library relies on its graceful gestural form and colorful facade to promote engagement. It assumes a vital role in a community that has become an arrival point for new immigrants, offering traditional services as well as cultural orientation, social integration, enhancement of employment skills, and access to technology.
2. Barnard College - The Milstein Center, New York
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)
A new hub for academic and intellectual life in the heart of Barnard College’s campus in New York City, the 128,000-square foot Milstein Center represents a crossroads for students, the community, and partners across the city. A place for interdisciplinary scholarship, the center reflects the college’s approach to curriculum and the synthesis of all forms of knowledge and data.
3. Calgary's New Central Library, Calgary, Alberta
Snøhetta and Dialog
On a former brownfield infill site in rapidly expanding Calgary, this new library can accommodate more than twice as many annual visitors as the previous facility. Fitting seamlessly into the complex urban condition surrounding it, the library boasts a generous 75,000 square feet of entry plaza and outdoor amphitheater that allows its lively programming to spill outside.
4. Colorado College Tutt Library Expansion and Transformation, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Pfeiffer
Photo: Steve Lerum.
Invigorated by Colorado College’s commitment to carbon neutrality, this new library embraced the net-zero mentality from the start. The project follows the planning principles and recommendations set forth in the college’s long range development plan and focuses on open space, flexibility, environmental stewardship, and moments of social and intellectual engagement.
5. Louisville Free Public Library, South Central Regional Library, Louisville, Kentucky
MSR Design and JRA Architects
With its angular forms and industrial materials, this library reflects human intervention in the natural world while celebrating its organic surroundings. Sitting in a 100-year-old forest in an area where clear cutting for development has long been the custom, the project harnesses sustainable design to create a flexible and responsive program.
6. Half Moon Bay Library, Half Moon Bay, California
Noll & Tam Architects
Photo: Anthony Lindsey Photography.
Flexibility is key for this new library, which operates in a 270-square-mile service area along California’s coast in San Mateo County. As the primary community facility for the large region, the library was designed to meet the needs of a diverse population, including immigrant and non-English-speaking residents.
Related Stories
Libraries | Jan 26, 2016
Snøhetta designs research library at Temple University
The firm emphasized collaborative spaces, but the library will have room for plenty of books as well.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
Libraries | Aug 27, 2015
Barack Obama Foundation begins search for presidential library architect
Both national and foreign firms will compete for chance to design the Chicago-based Presidential Center.
Libraries | Apr 29, 2015
Designs for earthquake-resistant New Central Library in New Zealand unveiled
The Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects won the competition to design the New Central Library in Christchurch, New Zealand, which will replace the old building damaged by devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 7, 2015
Mies’ Martin Luther King Jr. Library to get makeover
The architects say the modernization aims to improve “Mies in a contemporary Miesian way.”
Libraries | Apr 2, 2015
6 award-winning libraries showcase next-gen design strategies
The new Cedar Rapids Public Library and the restored Slover Library in Norfolk, Va., are among six breakthrough projects honored with 2015 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards.
Sponsored | Cladding and Facade Systems | Mar 24, 2015
Designers turn a struggling mall into a hub of learning and recreation
Architects help Nashville government transform a struggling mall into a new community space.
Retail Centers | Mar 10, 2015
Retrofit projects give dying malls new purpose
Approximately one-third of the country’s 1,200 enclosed malls are dead or dying. The good news is that a sizable portion of that building stock is being repurposed.
| Jan 2, 2015
Construction put in place enjoyed healthy gains in 2014
Construction consultant FMI foresees—with some caveats—continuing growth in the office, lodging, and manufacturing sectors. But funding uncertainties raise red flags in education and healthcare.
| Dec 29, 2014
Spherical reflectors help spread daylight throughout a college library in Portland, Ore. [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
The 40,000-sf library is equipped with four “cones of light,” spherical reflectors made from extruded aluminum that distribute daylight from the library’s third floor to illuminate the second. The innovation was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.