Awards

Designed in collaboration with Douglas Sydnor Architect and Associates, the Appaloosa Branch Library design theme celebrates the environment in a protected desert setting. Building finishes play with light like a mirage in northern Scottsdale’s upper Sonoran Desert. The library’s central location in a new community will establish itself as a cultural focal point for new and old residents alike.

Rising from a very functional plan, the 21,500 s.f. library concentrates its interior drama in a single large Reading Room that is 70 feet wide and 130 feet long. The space is naturally lit with indirect light that changes during the day but rarely enters the room directly. Sunsets will color the whole room with changing shades of pink and orange, while thunderstorms will be visible wherever they occur. The Reading Room is separated from staff spaces and meeting rooms by a massive geologically-layered concrete wall. Rooms along the south side are wrapped in iridescent metal and float a few feet above the arroyo. At the west end, the building digs into the earth, but at the east end it opens onto a patio with filtered views of the McDowell Mountains.

Featured in Feb. 2010 Metal Architecture magazine >>
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