Riverside Library

Riverside, CA

Riverside’s three-story main library replaces a 1960s era building with a ground floor arcade space, community room, and an outdoor reading terrace and event space. The new design features a sculpted, folded, and rolled form that stands on two feet and straddles a closed-off city street forming an event plaza. Designed with local natural and cultural environments in mind, stone boulders emerge from the concrete floor of a park-like vignette on the 3rd-floor view terrace, bringing the mountain to the library.

The site provides flexible outdoor space to accommodate a variety of community functions and events ranging from farmers’ markets and concerts to family festivals.

The project utilizes minimal landscaping at the ground level, developing a defined line between the library plaza and the parking lot.

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