Temecula Public Library
A light-suffused library serves as a community's emblematic lantern.
The City of Temecula commissioned LPA to design a new library for its expanding community to create “a place to learn; a place to explore; a place to discover old traditions and new opportunities.”
Based on what you have seen and read about this project, how would you grade it? Use the stars below to indicate your assessment, five stars being the highest rating.
The learning process for patrons begins in the library’s parking lot. After parking their cars, patrons walk along paths embellished with artwork and signage that depict a chronological timeline of the community’s history, while leading to the library entrance.
The 33,000-square-foot stone and concrete library, situated along a narrow site atop a hillside, was designed with a plenitude of windows to create an interior filled with natural light. In the evening, the illuminated windows serve as a metaphor for the “light of knowledge,” an emblem as a community lantern upon the hillside.
Patrons walk along a linear spine that connects the one-story building’s public spaces. The spine terminates at a heritage room, which houses a local history collection, and a meeting and lounge space.
To host its most exuberant and numerous visitors, children, the library features a room that embodies a local tradition: hot air balloons. The walls in the children’s area are rounded to emulate the shape and texture of a basket and hot air balloon, while bright colors further allude to the design of these flying vessels.
Formal name of building: Temecula Public Library
Location: 30620 Pauba Road
Temecula, CA 92592
Completion Date (Month and Year): December 2006
Gross square footage: 34,000 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: $12,400,000
Owner:
The City of Temecula
Architect:
LPA, Inc.
5161 California Avenue, Suite 100
Irvine, California 92617
P: 949-261-1001
F: 949-260-1190
www.lpainc.com


Sign in to Comment
To write a comment about this story, please sign in. If this is your first time commenting on this site, you will be required to fill out a brief registration form. Your public username will be the beginning of the email address that you enter into the form (everything before the @ symbol). Other than that, none of the information that you enter will be publically displayed.