Frisco Public Library

Project Details

Project Description

Frisco's first stand-alone library is a unique adaptive reuse endeavor, transforming an existing warehouse with soaring ceilings to become a civic cornerstone for the community.
At more than 158,000 square feet, this tilt-wall structure was once used to manufacture rockets. Now, the building is given new life as a library, serving as a new source for inspiration and learning that speaks to the youthful optimism and innovation of Frisco. Additionally, the facility fulfills the city's desire for a large, flexible building that facilitates dynamic, active learning and empowers its staff.

Understanding that libraries are public architecture and should reflect a pride of place, The City of Frisco voters overwhelmingly approved a bond toward the relocation of the Frisco Public Library into a cavernous building - originally built to manufacture rocket ships. Additionally, the city wants a facility that speaks to the youthful optimism and innovation of Frisco, and a place that respects its history on the Blackland Prairie.

The library’s context needed two entries, a ceremonial arrival to the north toward Frisco Square, and a second entrance facing west where most guests will enter. Designing a library with two access points creates a few security and service challenges. As a solution, the design team developed a parti which evokes the Dogtrot style homes customary to the Blackland Prairie ecoregion of the 19th and early 20th centuries that connects two entries with an interior breezeway. The Dogtrot establishes two distinctive portions of the building designated as secured (community event space with program pieces rentable to the public after library hours) and unsecured (library proper).

The original tilt-wall constructed rocket factory was built with strong structural floor slabs perfect for the dead load of the books that will go within. However, the roof structure and walls weren’t built with much excess capacity to support significant structural modification. To correct this, cross-bracing and other structural enhancements have been integrated into the design aesthetic and celebrated as part of a new language for the building.