Patrick Heath Public Library

Project Details

Project Description

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 is enveloped by a park-like setting, purposefully
sited along a creek to the east which gives library visitors an opportunity
to enjoy that natural area, a precious sight in parched Central Texas. 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. In this sunny climate, building
shade structures and preserving the existing leafy Live Oaks was essential to
designing usable outdoor space. Materials provide a more subtle 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.