Chapel Hill Public Library

The town of Chapel Hill quickly outgrew a 40,000-square-foot library at Pritchard Park built in 1994. Our addition roughly doubles its size by bookending the existing building with a new public face to the south and a new front door to the north. The loft-like south addition provides book stacks and reading areas with views of the park. A screen of louvers controls southern light, sheltering the interiors from glare during the hot summers but allowing direct light to penetrate deep into the building in winter. The north addition, faced with glass, brick, wood, and stone, provides a new entrance and much-needed community meeting spaces. The interior of the existing building is completely reorganized and upgraded.

The building is LEED Silver certified and employs high-efficiency mechanical systems, intelligent lighting controls, natural lighting, water conservation, and stormwater runoff control, and uses post-industrial recycled, post-consumer recycled, and regionally sourced materials.