Sahuarita, Arizona

The new Sahuarita Regional Library provides an improved space for visitors, administration, and students with an expanded collection, access to cutting-edge learning services and technology, and a unique customer-centric experience for its users.

The new 17,000 sf. Library includes collection areas for children, teens, and adults, as well as several study/meeting rooms, a maker space, gaming center, and a business development space that can be used for collaborating and developing job skills. A large multi-purpose room is designed to open to an outdoor patio that is tempered with recycled building relief air.

As positive views are lacking from the site, the facility focuses instead on the adjacent desert landscape. A low ribbon window provides views to earth berms and bioswales planted with native vegetation irrigated with rainwater collected from the roof and hardscape. Two perforated steel ‘shards’ grow from the south elevation allowing diffuse natural daylight into the space, creating a strong presence from the street. Beneath the shards are tempered outdoor reading patios, allowing library patrons to comfortably enjoy the outdoors.