Patrick Heath Public Library

Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar

PATRICK HEATH PUBLIC LIBRARY

LPA

ARCHITECTS
LPA

LOCATION
Boerne, United States

CTEGORY
Library

AREA
30000 ft²

YEAR
2011

MANUFACTURERS
Bradley Corporation USA, Armstrong Ceilings, Kawneer, McNichols, I-10 Materials, Omni Steel

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Mickey Conrad, Sara Flowers, Braden Haley, Jose Balboa

STRUCTURAL
Alpha Consulting Engineers

MEP
DBR Engineering

CIVIL ENGINEERS
MTR Engineers

LIBRARY DIRECTOR
Kelly Skovbjerg

The Patrick Heath Public Library was designed to support a goal of providing the community a sense of belonging and connection to the environment.

Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar

A priority for the building is to provide a comfortable space for reading, viewing and listening for pleasure and lifelong learning.

The sole library in Boerne, Texas, a community just west of San Antonio, exists in harmony with the city’s renowned bucolic surroundings.

The LEED Gold certified library was purposefully sited along a creek to be enveloped by a park-like setting to the east which gives library visitors an opportunity to enjoy that natural area, a precious sight in parched Central Texas.

Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar

The building includes expansive windows on the eastern side that showcase the creek, stately Live Oak trees, and wooded Hill Country vistas beyond.

The architects oriented many of the programmed spaces, such as the internet cafe, quiet room, meeting rooms, reading areas, and a screened-in balcony eastward to highlight the unbroken panoramic landscape, keeping service desks and support areas necessarily near the main entrance on the western side.

Outdoor seating arrangements and terraces encourage readers to take activities outside in pleasant weather.

Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar

In this sunny climate, building shade structures and preserving the existing leafy Live Oaks was essential to designing usable outdoor space.

Materials provide a subtler connection to the region: indigenous limestone comprises both exterior and interior walls and reclaimed regional Longleaf Pine is used in pivot walls that enhance functionality.

Cisterns tie the creekside views back to the importance of water conservation. In these ways, the library succeeds in connecting Boerne to its most striking feature: the celebrated Texas Hill Country that begins right outside its windows.

Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar
Patrick Heath Public Library
© Dror Baldinger | Mark Menjivar