Hagen Ranch Road Branch Library

The swelling town of West Delray Beach, Fla., had outgrown its existing library, so Palm Beach County sought to create a unique, affordable new building that would serve as a focal point for the community.

The resulting design is an amalgam of geometric angles: The rear elevation of the building (which fronts the main access road) features 118 linear feet of panels leaning outward at a 30-degree angle, supported by tilt-panel-and-steel buttresses with a glass infill. The slanted Tilt-Up wall continues over a low roof also created with spandrel panels and supported by a complex steel frame system. This slanted panel is met with a tapered vertical side spandrel to complete a hexagonal-shaped roof area that provides an atrium-like space inside the library. The front elevation mimics the slanting panels of the roofline with a smaller cast-in-place walkway crowned by a 20-degree slanted Tilt-Up canopy. To add further geometric drama, reveal lines were given a minimalist treatment, and feature elements were painted a deep orange to contrast with the neutral colors of the rest of the building.

Featuring state-of-the-art media technology, open reading rooms, community conference areas, and expanded media and paper library, the building has quickly become a favorite gathering place for the community of West Delray Beach.