Library Design Worthy of a Flourishing Community

Harmon Library is a small library in the heart of an urban park in downtown Phoenix, a gathering place where the community was enabled to take pride and ownership of the building. Over time, the diverse neighborhood has integrated the library as a key element within the community; a place to connect with adults, and an important resource for after school working families. Celebrating the wide diversity and demographic of the community, the building is conceived as a Kaleidoscope; a primary linear space containing the commonly shared functions flanked by discrete age-dependent areas. Allowing each to be both independent but maintain a shared experience, the library provides multi-purpose spaces for the vastly different age groups that make-up the patrons.

The facility provides a children's story room and First Five Years/Los Primeros Cinco Años interactive learning space for families with young children, a multi-purpose meeting room for community gatherings, as well as library programs, patio spaces, a special "teens only" area with materials just for teens, dedicated study space, WiFi, 34 Internet-accessible public computers, and a multi-functional kitchen to service library events.

Framed with a large expanse of saw-tooth glass at each end, the upper ceiling volume is sheathed in perforated aluminum panels, dispersed with colored linear skylights and slot windows that refract the ever-changing light throughout the day. Establishing the core reading area, the 25' high central volume with graphic panels suspended from structural trusses provides a lyrical play of texture and color reflecting across the floor, walls, and furniture. An open floor plate seamlessly transfers patrons throughout the library and augments views to exterior garden courts and the adjacent community park beyond.