prescott valley public library + yavapai college

The facility houses both the public library and community college functions, creating a unique and diverse program for the building that includes adult, teen, youth reading spaces, common areas, and multi-use facilities. The facility also utilizes advanced RFID and self-service technology throughout the Library.

Located in the high desert of northern Arizona and inspired from a regional lava dome, the design of the library becomes an eruption of the site located near Bald Mountain. A folded corten skin and glass window wall wrap the outer shell, dramatic lava boulders fall into the courtyard spaces, organic flowing floor patterns extend inside/out. The skin detail wraps to the inside of the building and transfers into an exposed cedar ceiling surface that can be seen from the first and second floor of the library, forging an expansive reading room vista driven by the concept and client objectives. Within the interior, each programmatic element rises from the floor plate defining and transforming places into stimulating environments where the library patrons can experience the amazing views.

The building is organized around the central community focus, the public meeting space. This is a place where the community comes together for public meetings, lectures, and performances. The library is organized around the meeting spaces, and is flanked by classrooms and offices for Yavapai College, the town’s partner in the project. The building is adjacent to a new parking area to allow patrons to walk at grade into the building, and a series of terraces and an open walkway that connects the new building to the existing city hall and amphitheater area, enlivening this relatively unused area.