Will Bruder Architects

Hercules Public Library

Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman

HERCULES PUBLIC LIBRARY

Will Bruder+Partners

CATEGORY
Library

LOCATION
Hercules, CA, USA

PROJECT YEAR
2006

AREA
20162.0 ft2

PHOTOGRAPHS
Bill Timmerman

Text description provided by architect.

The new Hercules Public Library is conceived as a community gathering place and a functionally efficient vessel of knowledge and discovery.

Rooted in the landscape and traditions of the town and region, the library draws from diverse eastern and western cultures—tied to the climate of courtyard missions, Eastern gardens, and Northern California.

Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman
Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman

Sited on a raised plinth, the library is a beacon from the freeway, enjoying long vistas from its reading room.

The building embraces the street edge and provides a grove for the neighborhood to the east.

Its long butterfly rake emerges from the hillside—gesturing to City Hall.

This simple form is energized by selective apertures and a serpentine wall, giving a sense of movement on Civic Drive.

Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman
Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman

Walls are vertical brick tile— a warm mosaic of the light and color of the place. At the southwest corner a ‘paper lantern’ of dual-fritted glass sifts daylight to the reading room and glows by night. Below, a glass fireplace shares a hearth with the town.

Visitors arrive at a floating silver canopy, giving onto a soft white interior; acoustic ceilings vault above carpet reminiscent of a forest floor. Directly from entry, the meeting room, conference, and homework center form a suite, secured from the rest of the building, usable after-hours.

The library is organized around a white elliptical ‘sky garden’ with a café and reading areas around a tilted moss bed and magnolia tree.

International, fiction, non-fiction, and reference collections flow through the reading room, with study rooms adjacent to the garden. Teens are given their own high-energy space, and a bay window to the grove.

Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman
Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman

The children’s library is separated from other collections, viewing onto the children’s garden. The deep blue ‘story cone’ transports kids to a magical world with a ‘butterfly shade’ to modulate skylight.

The library has been hailed as a success in the community and among librarians, and has given Hercules new cause for civic pride.

Hercules Public Library
© Bill Timmerman


Hercules Public Library
Site Plan
Hercules Public Library
Section

Will Bruder Architects
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Will Bruder Architects
111 SW Harrison 19D Portland, OR 97201, United States