Skip to main content

Bella_Vista_4236_BAW-2048
Bella_Vista_4284_BAW-2048
Bella_Vista_4276_BAW-2048
Bella_Vista_2473_BAW-2048
Bella_Vista_2552_BAW-2048
Bella_Vista_2450_BAW-2048
Bella_Vista_2534_BAW-2048

Bella Vista Library

Close Project

Located on a ridge with steep wooded terrain on three sides, expanding the footprint of the library was not a simple decision, nor the first instinct of the team. After multiple studies including vertical and horizontal expansion, a long, simple bar was selected as the optimal solution to expand the library space and to provide new program opportunities including a community room, a meeting room, a reading room, study rooms and children’s library stack spaces while the existing library was able to remain fully open and operational. The addition is carefully placed behind the existing library to serve as a backdrop, nestled into the wooded setting, while preserving the arrival sequence and appearance of the beloved existing library. The addition has been designed to provide a secondary access sequence which permits flexible hours and controlled access to community spaces independent of the library’s lending hours.

Serving as both a backdrop to the library and a frame to nature, the addition takes its material queues from the existing library and re-deploys them in order to elevate the image of the library rather than to simply re-produce what is expected. The north elevation rises up out of the ridge as a local dry stacked stone volume capped with a thinly detailed metal clad saddle, separated with a continuous clerestory ribbon which provides constant even light to the library spaces. The south façade of the library is a deeply shaded continuous storefront glazing wall elevated within the trees, enhancing the connection to nature. The two forms of the new and the existing library are linked by a quiet metal clad volume that slips below the existing soffit and the new transom.

LOCATION / Bella Vista, Arkansas
BUILDING TYPE / New Construction & Modernization
BUILDING SIZE / 14,200 GSF
COMPLETION DATE / May 2020

Marygrove Early Education Center

Marygrove Early Education Center

Lamplighter School Innovation Lab

Lamplighter School Innovation Lab

Heartland Whole Health Institute

Heartland Whole Health Institute

Ledger City Center

Ledger City Center

Crystal Bridges Eleven Servery & Coffee Bar

Crystal Bridges Eleven Servery & Coffee Bar

Thaden School Bike Barn

Thaden School Bike Barn

Thaden School Performance Building

Thaden School Performance Building

Shelby Farms Park Structures

Shelby Farms Park Structures

Shelby Farms Park Restaurant and Event Center

Shelby Farms Park Restaurant and Event Center

Thaden Reels exterior photo of it's angular modern structure at night

Thaden School Reels Building

Harvard ERC Hotel

Harvard ERC Hotel

Flyrite

Flyrite

The restaurant space showing a beautiful mix of materials of concrete masonry units and plywood

COOP Ramen

Lamplighter School Barn

Lamplighter School Barn

Harvey Pediatric Clinic red metal and glass profile shot looking across parking spots

Harvey Pediatric Clinic

Steven L. Anderson Design Center Exterior exterior made of Indiana limestone, architectural concrete, and fritted glass

University of Arkansas Steven L. Anderson Design Center

Shelby Farms Park Visitor Center seen at sunset featuring a large overhanging 'front porch' overlooking fresh-cut grass

Shelby Farms Park Visitor Center

The church exterior seen at night, made of a box rib metal panel and red cross that shines from the top of a tower

St. Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church

Shaw Residence

Shaw Residence

The low-slung form of the pavilion, bathed in dappled light, hovering above the forest floor, acts as an apparition in the woods

Indianapolis Museum of Art Visitors Pavilion

Tanglewood Cabin

Tanglewood Cabin

Montessori Elementary entrance at night

Fayetteville Montessori Elementary Building

Keenan Tower House lit up at night as it towers over trees in the forest

Keenan TowerHouse

Graphic House

Graphic House

Exterior shot of the glass window walls and metal structure seen at sundown

Fayetteville High School

Blessings Golf Clubhouse seen at dusk lit from inside looking over the cut grass

Blessings Golf Clubhouse

PORCHDOG PROTOTYPE, Biloxi, Mississippi (2009)

Porchdog

Montessori Primary, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2014)

Fayetteville Montessori Primary Building

A wooden floors, walls, and ceilings look out through glass at the concrete museum

Crystal Bridges Museum Store

The building's exterior lit from inside at dusk during a rainstorm

Gentry Public Library

Bella Vista Library

Bella Vista Library

L - Stack House, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2006)

L-Stack House

Interior airy wooden seating area below second flow overlooks with white ceiling and natural lighting

Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center

A view of the buildings beautiful white exoskeleton and night with lights shining from inside

Srygley Office Building

The Fulbright Building

The Fulbright Building

Moore HoneyHouse lit from inside at night with glowing jars of honey shining brightly through the glass

Moore Honeyhouse