DESIGNWORKS 2018

Route 9 Library and Innovation Center

New Castle County, DE

Perkins + Will

Derek Jones (Principal), Scott Hefner (designer)

The Route 9 Library& Innovation Center will provide the surrounding, underserved community with cutting-edge programs and act as the gateway to a new Innovation Campus. Technology- and skill-focused library programs flank the open library reading area on one side of the entry, while community gathering spaces are grouped to other side of the entry for after-hours access. A dynamic perforated metal skin, symbolic of a tree canopy that provides shade, shelter and a place of gathering, serves as a unifying element linking both.

Like the canopy of a tree, the perforated metal roof playfully expresses the organic structure of leaves while filtering out harsh solar rays and flooding the interior with diffused natural light. A luminous column of light simultaneously marks the entry as it addresses the street and sets a precedent for the future Innovation Campus and Route 9 corridor.

The Center anchors a new Innovation Campus designed to revitalize one of the most underserved communities in the State of Delaware. Bounded by industrial waterways and interstate highways, the Route 9 community has been identified as an “island” of limited access to public services. Program features that will build professional skills, increase literacy, and put 21st-century technology in the hands of community members include a STEM Lab, Media Production Studio, Maker Space, Scriptorium, Lego® Room and a Sensory Room developed in partnership with the Delaware Center for Autism.

(Maria Peterson)

Judges Comments:

“Spatially engaging on multiple levels. Well thought out, and inventive.”