AIA/ALA Library Building Award 2025

Serving over 65,000 residents in West Columbus, OH, the Hilltop Branch Library renovation and expansion reimagines a formerly outdated structure into a vibrant community anchor. Prioritizing youth support, the design includes a homework lab, quiet study spaces, and a dedicated children's library. With a more open and modern façade, the facility welcomes patrons of all ages. The new library strengthens access to educational resources in an underserved, primarily minority neighborhood, supporting students between school hours and home life.

Nestled within Liberty Park—an Olmsted-designed landscape—the new 12,500-square-foot Liberty Park Library doubles the size of its predecessor to offer modern, inclusive library services. Designed to respect and preserve the park's mature trees and historic character, the facility features flexible indoor and outdoor learning spaces, a discovery area for children, and multi-purpose rooms. Strategically located in a diverse neighborhood, the library is envisioned as a civic catalyst, inspiring renewed community connections and future revitalization of the underutilized park.

This sculptural, experiential space was conceived as a “Collection of Experiences.” Breaking from a traditional box form, it extends and lifts to create daylit reading niches, protective overhangs, and spatial variety. The design supports patrons of all ages, abilities, and temperaments, offering both discovery and comfort. These adaptive elements encourage individual exploration while fostering equitable access to knowledge. Every architectural gesture—skylights, pivots, or porches—enhances the patron’s connection to space, light, and community.

As Pleasant Hill’s first major civic building in decades, the new library offers a forward-thinking model of community engagement and sustainability. Flexible, immersive spaces include a central free-span hall, makerspace, story lab, and serene reading retreats. Natural light filters through clerestories and skylights, while energy efficiency is achieved through radiant systems, passive ventilation, and rooftop solar. Designed to inspire curiosity and creativity across all ages, the library reflects a city-wide investment in inclusive learning and environmental responsibility.

The 76,000-square-foot headquarters of the State Historical Society of Missouri positions history as a living, accessible discipline. Integrating research, exhibition, and community engagement, the building honors Missouri’s cultural and ecological heritage through material choices and architectural form. As a civic landmark in Columbia, the Center fosters dialogue, discovery, and scholarship. With spaces for public programs and archival work, it serves as both a cultural beacon and a contemporary model of how institutions can preserve and interpret regional identity.