In 2018, the City of Merriam, KS began construction on a new Merriam Community Center Campus, located adjacent to the city’s municipal services campus and two blocks north of the existing Johnson County Library Antioch Branch. As part of their planned development of the Community Center Campus site, the city allocated a portion of the site for a new library facility to replace the outdated Antioch Branch, originally constructed in 1956.
Dake Wells Architecture was hired by Johnson County, Kansas to lead the design of a new 15,000-SF library, officially re-named the Merriam Plaza Library. Envisioned as the final piece to the planned Community Center Campus, the library was sited at the center of the campus, tightly hemmed in on three sides by the recently completed community center to the north, a new parking garage to the west, and a steep grade change to the south. While offering a prominent location, the site presented design challenges that included a very tight site and limited opportunities for views to nature from within the building.
Faced with these and other challenges, the design team found inspiration early in the design process with the notion of a library as “a collection of books/information” and conceived this new library as “a collection of experiences.” It was designed to feel truly welcoming to all ages, gender denominations, and ethnicities. Kids have special niches in which to stretch out with a book. Adults have quieter zones for research and study. Teens are located close to breakout rooms to allow for group interaction. A welcoming front porch with a distinctive covered overhang beckons new patrons to enter and explore the space. And a protected drive-through allows for busy patrons to obtain their materials quickly and be on their way.
To address the community’s concerns about building on the quadrange that they have come to see as the community center lawn, the new structure features a landscaped green roof that conjures a sense of the building growing out of the site. The green roof and surrounding site will contain a variety of native grasses and perennials that will provide changing color and visual interest throughout the year. This distinctive roof also invited opportunities related to the interior experience.
To address the challenge of a hemmed-in site with no obvious views, the team designed the building’s roofscape to feature four light monitors that capture views to the sky and the green roof above, while pulling daylight deep into the interior spaces. These sculptural forms existing amongst the rooftop plantings mark the library as a special place, where curiosity and exploration are celebrated.
Further embracing the “collection of experiences” concept, the library features integrated public art both inside and outside the building.
The project has been certified LEED Silver by the US Green Building Council and benefitted from energy and daylight modeling early in the design process.
