IIDA has announced the Best of Competition winner for the 2012 Library Interior Design Competition, held by the IIDA in conjunction with the Library Leadership and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association. This biennial competition honors excellence in library Interior Design, incorporating aesthetics, design creativity, function and satisfaction of the client’s objectives.
McAllen Public LibraryMeyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd. of Minneapolis, Minnesota received the coveted Best of Competition Award for their project, McAllen Public Library, in McAllen, Texas. The Library, a transformation of an abandoned Wal-Mart store, demonstrates the greenest possible use of existing space, and provides a lively community space for the city of McAllen and meeting the city’s goal of creating a highly functional, flexible library of more than 124,000 square feet on a single level. The occupied space is equivalent to nearly 2 ½ football fields, making this project the largest single story library in the US. The success of the space is apparent in the stats: In the library’s first operating month, user registration increased 23%.
In addition to the Best of Competition Winner, seven winners and three honorable mentions were announced earlier from projects submitted throughout North America:
Academic Libraries, 30,000 SF & Smaller
Firm: Joel Sanders Architect, New York, NY
Project: Julian Street Library, Princeton University, NJ
Academic Libraries, over 30,000 SF
Firm: Diamond Schmitt Architects / Evans Bertrand Hill Wheeler Architecture Inc., Toronto, Ontario
Project: Harris Learning Library, Nipissing University - North Bay, Ontario, Canada
On the Boards
Firm: Perkins + Will, Dallas, TX
Project: Preston Royal Replacement Branch Library, Dallas, TX
Outstanding Historical Renovation Project
Firm: Centerbrook Architects and Planners, Centerbrook, CT
Project: Library and Archives at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Public Libraries, 30,000 SF & Smaller
Firm: The Freelon Group, Durham, NC
Project: Anacostia Neighborhood Library, Washington DC
Public Libraries, over 30,000 SF
Firm: Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd. (MS&R), Minneapolis, MN
Project: McAllen Public Library, McAllen, TX
Single Space
Firm: Shepley Bulfinch, Boston MA
Project: Atlanta University Center- Woodruff Library Learning Commons, Atlanta, GA
Honorable Mentions:
Public Libraries, 30,000 SF & Smaller
Firm: William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc., Boston, MA
Project: Mattapan Branch Boston Public Library, Mattapan, MA
Public Libraries, over 30,000 SF
Firm: Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd. (MS&R), Minneapolis, MN
Project: Ramsey County Roseville Library, Roseville, MN
Single Space
Firm: Gensler, Boston, MA
Project: Boston Public Library: Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston, MA
