The new Main Library at Goodwood, part of Louisiana’s East Baton Rouge Parish Library System, has been selected as a national award-winner in Library Journal magazine’s 2015 New Landmark Libraries program. The building has also been recognized with the Members’ Choice Award from the Baton Rouge chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and selected as Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine’s “Best Government/Public Buildings Project” and “Project of the Year” for the five-state region encompassing Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
The three-story, 126,000-square-foot building was designed by the Library Design Collaborative, a joint venture of Dewberry, Cockfield Jackson Architects, and Tipton Associates. The New Landmark Libraries, AIA, and ENR awards programs all recognize projects that demonstrate creativity, design excellence, and innovation in problem-solving.
The Main Library at Goodwood houses more than 500,000 books, movies, electronic resources, and circulating artwork. The $35.8-million building was designed as a community destination that would appeal to all ages and support lifelong learning. A meeting room accommodates 300 people. A career center provides free services to assist clients in career transitions. The library also offers a reading room, a Baton Rouge Room and genealogy collection, a technology lab, children’s and teen rooms with LED light displays, 140 personal computers, and 3-D printing.
Highlights of the design include stained glass windows, a recycled paper waterfall spanning three floors, a drive-through/pickup window, and a landscaped roof terrace and gardens. Dewberry, one of the nation’s leading firms in library design, provided programming, interior architecture, interior design, and audio-visual engineering.
“It is truly gratifying to be selected as the ‘Best Government/Public Project’ for this five-state region,” stated Library Director Spencer Watts about the ENR award. “I believe this high-profile award reflects positively on Baton Rouge as a community.” The library has been published in ENR and will be featured in an upcoming issue of Library Journal.
