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Kenmore Library

Project Description

The Kenmore Library is a new 10,000 square foot public library with a 10,000 square foot below-grade parking structure, located in downtown Kenmore, Washington.

The building design is centered around an open reading room – as a civic gesture of welcoming community space.It features an innovative and delicate tension-rod truss system that clear spans the 72-foot by 90-foot room.

The building is designed to provide abundant natural light that is balanced and diffused, with optimum solar orientation and carefully calibrated skylights and overhangs. A raised floor system is used for HVAC distribution to increase energy efficiency and occupant comfort, and for power and data distribution to maximize the flexibility and adaptability of the library. The building also includes many sustainable features in the site design as well as the construction of the building. Where possible, building materials met US Green Building Council benchmarks for recycled content, regional sources and certified wood.

A public plaza to the north enlarges the civic space of the sidewalk, connecting the library to the downtown core. A large viewing garden of sculpted landforms and native plantings buffer the reading room from the highway to the south. Landscape rain gardens provide on-site infiltration of rainwater to improve ground water quality and reduce surface water run-off into nearby Lake Washington. Additional site improvements include right-of-way and sidewalk upgrades and undergrounding of existing overhead utilities, both at the library site and at adjacent properties.

Project Details

Location

Kenmore, WA

Owner

King County Library System

Architect

Weinstein A+U Architects and Urban Designers

Size

18,999

Completed

2011