The community had a lot of demands for the recently completed North Boulder Library, designed by the New Yorkbased practice WORKac: It had to be accessible, accommodate the local Spanish-speaking population, and respond to the neighborhoods recent growth and development. Plus, it had to be available to community groups and add a pollinator garden and makerspace kitchen in addition to hosting bookshelves and play spaces. The three-year process was the most extensive community engagement weve ever done, WORKac principal Amale Andraos told AN during an interview at the practices office on the Lower East Side. The result is a library that is playful, colorful, and responsive. WORKac, which Andraos has led with Dan Wood since its founding in 2003, was selected for the job through an RFP issued in 2018. At the time, the firm had recently completed its first library, a facility for Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York, and it has since completed a new branch location for the Brooklyn Public Library in Dumbo.A yellow spiral slide emerges from the mountain-facing facade, part of a future playground. (Bruce Damonte)The library for NoBo has been 25 years in the making, as residents were anticipating its arrival for decades before the RFP was issued. Its constituents had divergent opinions about its potential. For the occupants of the apartment complexes across the street, a library would mean increased traffic, blocked views, and less recreation space. For an immigrant population living in the adjacent mobile-home community, it could offer a place to learn and practice English.Cedar lines the north and east elevations of the library, and a contrasting standing seam metal cladding wraps its south elevation and roof. (Bruce Damonte)Though the brief called for architects to create an iconic building, Andraos and Wood approached the idea through sustainability and community engagement. This meant beginning from these concerns as the origin of the design process.A few years into the project, pandemic strictures threatened key aspects of the librarys design. The green roof was cut; cladding materials were swapped for more cost-effective alternatives; and library and community initiatives, like the garden, were cut back. Still, the project survived, and the building opened to the public in June 2024. In the end, it was the planning process and the community engagement that saved the project, Andraos reflected. The city ended up putting in a little bit more money, and the project was able to keep most of its features.The building, a pentagon in plan, is located on a triangular site close to Broadway, a main thoroughfare. New apartments have been built to the north, the mobile-home community is to the east, and picturesque views of the Boulder Flatirons are to the south. The site required more than just architecture: Dead-end streets abutting the site were connected, and a new roadway enables fire access. The main entrance to the library faces north, and a path was added that allows access on foot from the mobile-home community.Community meeting rooms are located on the second level. (Bruce Damonte)Wood explained how North Boulder Librarys polygonal geometries recall the high desert landscape and the mountain ranges on the horizon. To avoid interfering with the views of the residences lining the north end of the site, the peak of the building was positioned to align with 13th Street. Cedar lines the north and east elevations of the library, and a contrasting standing seam metal cladding wraps its south elevation and roof.WORKac positioned the librarys reading rooms with views of the mountains (Bruce Damonte)Like other freestanding buildings by WORKac, there is a formal attempt at landscape integration: Here, the single-story portion of the building on its north side is capped by a sloping roof with a walkway. An interactive art piece from Daily tous les jours, a Montreal-based design studio, installed on the ramp turns footsteps into a symphony of musical notes. (In a nice bit of synergy, the studio, which won a competition for the public art commission, was cofounded by Mounda Andraos, sister of WORKacs principal.) On the mountain-facing south facade, a yellow spiral slide hints at the forthcoming installation of a larger playground. Inside, private workspaces and community meeting rooms were placed to the north against the street, and reading rooms were given views of the mountains. Additional community spaces, including offices and classrooms for the Boulder Reads program, are located on the second floor.The green toile wallpaper design was conceived by from graphic designer Andrew Freeman, who referenced archival images of Boulder. (Bruce Damonte)The long reading room tapers in plan and section, which gives the space a sense of forced perspective. On the ceiling, the ductwork was left exposed and painted white. Color is used selectively and appears via linoleum floors and bathroom tiling. A staircase is bent at a sharp angle in plan, a nod to the areas geography, and its inside sports a green toile wallpaper design from graphic designer Andrew Freeman, who referenced archival images of Boulder to draw the scenes depicted in the pattern. Throughout, the Kawneer windows are shaped to mimic and frame the nearby peaks.Throughout the library, Kawneer windows frame the landscape. (Bruce Damonte)The library is open and bustling, but it is still a work in progress. Boulder Public Library director David Farnan has raised funds for the completion of the playground and makerspace plaza and is working to bring back other proposed features, including the green roof. In the meantime, the community has arrived to browse books, take courses, and, of course, use the slide.Theres something about libraries that is immediately clear that its for the community, Wood said. Whether youre a kid or an immigrant or someone who has lived there their whole life, its very clear that this is theirs, and there is an immediate takeover.