Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Knox Library

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FPBA, teamed with C.W. Driver and Manuel Oncina Architects, recently completed the new Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Harley & Bessie Knox Library. The City of San Diego selected the design-build team to execute the 16,000-square-foot library from bridging documents. The new 16,000-square-foot single-story library, situated over two levels of subterranean parking (54,500 total square feet), is more than three times the size of its predecessor. It offers unique reading spaces for adults, young adults, and youth services, meeting spaces ranging from expandable study rooms to a large community room, staff support, outdoor reading and expansion areas, computer areas, and a Friends of the Library bookstore. With LEED Gold Certification, the site utilizes a high-performance envelope, an ultra-efficient Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) mechanical system, LED lighting with occupancy and daylight sensors, drought-tolerant landscaping, stormwater treatment areas, and a 28 kW roof-mounted PV system. The craftsman-style building marries earth-toned finishes and intricate wood detailing, creating grandeur in the main reading room, with vibrant colors and whimsical themes in the children and teen areas. CBS News 8 – San Diego, CA News Station – KFMB Channel 8

Poway City Library

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With continued growth and demand, the City of Poway elected to move its library and sheriff station from storefront facilities to a new community service center to accommodate significant expansion of safety personnel in the growing Poway Community. FPBA created a high visibility civic center in an area designated for redevelopment with a flexible learning environment that responds to evolving information technology and print and electronic media. FPBA visually linked the style and architecture of sheriff station with the library, as the community wanted the facilities to be designed using consistent, regional architecture. After the project was completed, community use of the library increased tenfold.

Carlsbad City Library

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The Carlsbad City Library serves the entire community, providing quality information, resources and evolving technologies to meet ever-changing community needs. This library creates a welcoming environment that supports the needs of the diverse citizenry as well as the city’s growing business community. Carlsbad Library creates a flexible learning environment that responds to evolving information technology and print and electronic media. It features multipurpose facilities that accommodate competing activities, such as a town meeting and a quiet reading area. Described as a library unlike any other in the county, the facility became a model to make libraries the community center of the 21st century.

Alpine Library

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Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects, along with C.W. Driver and Architect Manuel Oncina, were selected to design and construct a new 13,500-square-foot branch library for the County of San Diego to serve the community of Alpine and the surrounding areas. The facility not only acts as a vibrant learning center for its users but also creates a busy hive of activity and cultural exchange. Alpine Library is the first County-owned zero energy facility. It has achieved both LEED Gold Certification through the USGBC and Zero Energy Certification via Living Future Institute. The project is also the first library to achieve certification through the Zero Energy program. Alpine Library pays a significant tribute to the town’s rich history, from its ancestral settlers to today’s residents, by integrating architectural forms, art and details inspired by surrounding elements and culture, creating an exceptional gathering place that respects the local landscape and synergy with the neighboring park, Alpine Community Center and Veteran’s Wall of Honor. The building includes a marketplace – featuring popular books, media and a computer lab – an expandable resource room for flexible programming, dividable study rooms, family homework center, distinctive areas for adults, teens and children, outdoor reading niches/patio that overlook the park, support spaces and the Alpine Library Friends Association bookstore. Alpine Library strives to provide a “Third Place” to the community, committed to promoting literacy, lifelong learning and social capital. Alpine Library was featured for its high energy performance within “Building Catalog: Case Studies of High Performance Buildings,” a database developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The International Living Future Institute also featured Alpine Library as a case study for energy efficiency.      

La Jolla Country Day School Academic Center

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La Jolla Country Day School (LJCDS) is a co-educational, non-sectarian, independent school providing a college-preparatory education for 1,050 students in Nursery through Grade 12 in La Jolla, California. The Library Academic Center, located in the heart of the prestigious La Jolla Country Day School campus, is the signature building and new front door to the campus. The new library houses an art gallery, admissions suite and lower school library. An adjacent multipurpose room offers “flex” space – whether auditorium seating for 150, performance, testing or meeting space. The second floor houses the middle and upper school library that includes seminar rooms for small group work and the Learning Resource Center for mentoring and tutoring. The third floor houses staff offices and the board conference room. The Library Academic Center is a facility that demonstrates a commitment to social progress through the school’s mission of preparing students for a lifetime of intellectual exploration, personal growth and social responsibility.