Missoula Public Library’s downtown flagship was built to serve the community for more than a hundred years. The building’s design agenda connects visitors to Culture and Place and features a timeless flexibility that will help the Library adapt to future contingencies. Several architectural themes are notable:

Programmatic Design: In 2013, MPL sent a team to study the Culture House (kulturhuset) concept pioneered by libraries in Sweden. Culture Houses connect museums, lifelong learning, and civic spaces to a library core. MPL’s is the first purpose-built Culture House in the US.

Contextual Design: While the building’s overall style might be considered “civic modernism with a Scandinavian touch,” subtle references to local landscape, climate, geology, and geography are encoded in the building’s exterior and interior. Each level signifies a phase of an alpine climb.

Biophilic Design: Studies have shown that biophilia fosters human health and wellness. MPL’s design incorporates: Nature’s forms, shapes, patterns, and processes; indoor-outdoor transitions; variations of light and space; environmental features and place-based connections.

Sustainability: The downtown Library is designed for an annual Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 38 kBtu/sf. Once additional sources of renewable, off-site energy are available and affordable, the Library will be able to reduce its EUI to 33 and achieve a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) status.

Take a 4 minute video tour of MPL’s flaship design below: