CLIENT: COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

13,165 SF

This new 13,165 SF single-story building consists of Library and Community spaces such as book stack areas for adults, children, and teens, Storytime Circle, Living Room, private study rooms, a green room, computer lab, staff support spaces, Book Nook, Conversation Cafe, conference rooms, community rooms, and adjacent outdoor Poets Patio. The project was challenged with designing with the 100 Years Flood in mind, as well as designing a sustainable building to withstand the harsh desert environment. The roof serves many functions as an all-encompassing shading strategy for the building, and also reflects the desert floor and accentuates the iconic profiles of the nearby surrounding mountains. The design theme celebrates the unique environment and ecology of the desert, dark sky and star-gazing, and the vast history of this desert community, with our primary design goal creating a fluid and comprehensive link between the Library and the desert environment. This Net Zero Energy and LEED Gold project incorporates many energy-saving principles, including solar shading, extensive daylight harvesting, energy-efficient, and durable building envelope, and PV power production.