Lake Stevens Library

Currently under construction, the new Lake Stevens Library is designed to respond with sensitivity to its natural context and to create a welcoming and inspiring place for people to gather, study, and learn.

The library borders a wetland, part of the watershed that leads to Lake Stevens, the local body of water from which the town takes its name. The site has two significant glacial erratics – large granite boulders that were deposited by receding glaciers some 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. These ancient glacial erratics are well known and appreciated in the community, and feature prominently in entry plaza for the new library.

The ground level façade of the library is mostly transparent, offering views from the street through the library to the wetland and forest beyond. The upper floor of the library is more enclosed, with windows that provide special views or filter the sunlight – as if it were a treehouse looking out to the forest canopy. The library is clad in a vertical wood screen that references the history of Lake Stevens as a lumber and sawmill town. The library design is centered on the use of mass timber as a key sustainability strategy. The mass timber structure (cross laminated timber panels supported by glu-laminated frames) is exposed at the library interior creating a warm and inviting interior that references the environment of western Washington.

A BuildingWork project. Renderings © BuildingWork