Project Data:

Completion Date:     12/31/2025

Square Footage:      15000

Building Use:           Public library

Project Description:

The SPC Jesus S. Duran Eastside Library is located within an underserved neighborhood of the City of Riverside. Like many communities, this neighborhood is challenged by social and economic inequities, with a clear digital divide exacerbating the challenge. Addressing this reality with an elegant, empowering solution was the team’s main challenge.

The 15,000-sf library is a full-service branch library providing mixed-age literacy and learning programs to the City of Riverside, California. Inspired by the arched windows of the adjacent Cesar Chavez Community Center, the crescent shape of the library presents a lightweight modern pavilion and counterpoint to the historic mass and character of its neighbor.

Envisioned as a welcoming place of positive influence, the design commits to a transparent exterior envelope that connects the community to the activity of the library and views through the building to the surrounding site. The concave shape of the plan creates a natural arrival and programming plaza and supports CPTED best practices of passive supervision and a safe perimeter.

An exterior perforated solar screen has been layered over the glazed exterior to support building energy performance, security and interior user comfort. The screen patterning will be selected through a community artist initiative to reflect the diverse cultural heritage of the neighborhood.

The steel structure is a character-defining element that merges lateral, and gravity loads into an optimized and repetitive chevron bracing skeleton that extends beyond the envelope to support an external shade canopy.

The open interior planning is supported by three sculptural cores extending through the roof plane to screen the rooftop equipment. A neutral and unifying white finish palette emphasizes the visual texture of the books, the finishes of the sculptural furniture and vibrancy of the acoustic paneling also designed through a local artist selection process.

The community room, a flexible space bridging indoors and outdoors, is a place for gatherings and collaboration. With retractable doors opening to an exterior patio, it blurs the boundaries between inside and out, inviting endless possibilities for community engagement.

Through thoughtful design and community engagement, this library will stand as a timeless testament to the power of design to uplift and inspire, offering a glimpse of a brighter future for all who call Riverside home.

Design for Integration, Design for Equitable Communities, Design for Energy, Design for Well-being, Design for Change, Design for Discovery 

Design for Integration
Riverside's newest library is anchored in SPC Jesus Duran’s commitment to service and youth mentorship by offering a variety of inclusive spaces for community engagement, collaboration and enrichment. Purposely sited in a supportive position to Riverside’s prominent and historic Cesar Chavez Community Center, the library establishes key synergies and a welcoming plaza of shared space. The building’s curvilinear roof transforms into a delicate perforated shade canopy over an exterior patio as it extends toward the community center. This move further opens and activates the space for the city’s library, parks, recreation, and community members to all use. This new addition to the existing public facilities establishes the site as a vibrant cultural hub for learning and exchange.

Moreover, the overall design ensures the existing parking lot will be reimagined as a welcoming plaza with enhanced lighting and parking solutions. This space will become a fantastic opportunity for connection and programmed civic events.

Design for Equitable Communities
As the role of libraries evolve to serve a broader range of community needs, the approach to programming libraries of the future also adapt accordingly. Located in the historically underserved neighborhood of Riverside, CA, the new SPC Jesus S. Duran Eastside Library embodies vibrant community engagement that extends beyond its conventional role as a repository of books or a place to study. The full-service library provides access to crucial community resources such as literary and digital entertainment, makerspaces, multipurpose rooms, private meeting rooms, and thoughtfully designed outdoor greenery. The highly adaptable floor plan encourages community involvement in shaping how their local library serves them. Designed with inclusivity and a welcoming atmosphere at it's core, the SPC Jesus S. Duran Eastside library ensures that everyone feels valued in this dynamic cultural hub.

Design for Well-being
The library serves as an educational resource for all age groups, and a central meeting space for the community to promote the collaboration and exchange of ideas. Through the makerspace, the facility introduces a new format for learning through hands-on experience.

The interior of the library follows a bright and energetic color palette to enhance the user experience and liven up the space. The open floor plan and floor-to-ceiling windows emphasize a seamless connection to the surrounding greenery while also maximizing natural light within the space. The extended roof screen create a shaded patio area that offers a comfortable escape from the sun and a relaxing outdoor space.

Design for Energy
The library employs passive cooling strategies and rooftop PV panels to reduce its energy consumption. Perforated screens wrap around the south end of the building, providing privacy and shade while minimizing glare and enhancing interior daylighting. These screens are integral to the building's design, serving both as a key architectural feature and as a means to decrease heat gain through the south-facing windows.

Design for Discovery
The new library offers the community an opportunity to engage with exciting and creative spaces to encourage the discovery of creative interests. The colorful interiors breathe new life into the community's public resources and promote a hands on approach to creative learning. By featuring local artists along the library's mural walls, the library becomes a new platform to showcase the creative talent in Riverside. Library goers may also discover new instruments in the background as they wander around the building. Outdoor musical equipment is incorporated into the surrounding exterior of the building to encourage play and a sense of wonder. These outdoor instruments highlight playful moments and generate a vibrant, spontaneous soundtrack for visitors.

Design for Change
The open floor plan with three service cores allow for flexible furniture arrangements and adjustments to programming layout to best suit the needs of the library staff and users.

The Innovation Lab at the end of the building leading to the adjacent community center is envisioned as a flexible indoor / outdoor space with loose reconfigurable furniture. This space features large sliding doors that lead to the outside shaded patio area with the ability to reconfigure the space to hold workshops both outdoors and indoors. Retractable ceiling mounted power receptacles will transform the space into an ideal maker space and the large trough sink and adjacent storage room will further expand its capabilities as a naturally illuminated community art room.

Completion Date:     12/31/2025

Square Footage:      15000

Building Use:           Public library

Location:                 Riverside, CA

CannonDesign

N/A

City of Riverside

Armstrong & /brooks Consulting Engineers, Inc., Civil Engineering
CannonDesign, MEP Engineering
CannonDesign, Structural Engineering

Ground Level Landscape Architecture

N/A - unbuilt

Resonance Acoustics

N/A