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Gentry Public Library exterior photo of brick textures, metal, and glass encase window openings
Gentry Public Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)
Gentry Public Library historic photo
Gentry Public Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)
Gentry Public Library entrance of steel, brick, and glass looking in to modern wooden shelves filled with books
Gentry Public Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)
A view of the historic ceiling paired with the revitalized shelving and furniture
Gentry Public Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)
Gentry Public Library interior window sill, modern wooden shelving, and historic ceiling details
Gentry Public Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)
Gentry Public Library brick and glass exterior with glass window enclosures
Gentry Public Library, Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)

Gentry Public Library

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Project Information:

GENTRY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Fayetteville, Arkansas (2008)

A new modern public library and community room are surgically placed in the 100 year-old brick shell of a former hardware store on Main Street in a small Arkansas town. The existing brick structure, though of little architectural value, was desired by the community to remain visually intact at the exterior. The scarred and patched building is thus conceived as an historical artifact; its ruined state transformed by the addition of steel and glass volumes that encase existing window openings and brick ornament, infill existing openings, and selected walls.

These transparent volumes act as display cases oriented from the interior towards the city, presenting the building and its artifacts to the public, extending the gritty expressive character of the library with another layer of time and modernity, in effect, a new civic presence for the town of Gentry.

Project Awards:

2009:
+ Renovations Magazine Design Awards Grand Award
+ Metropolitian Home 100 Best Designs (#27)
+ National AIA/ALA Library Design Award
+ Gulf States Regional AIA Design Honor Award

2008:
+ Arkansas State AIA Award

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