Utah library wins steel design award

Photo by Scott Peterson Studio

Chicago — The Weber County Library Headquarters Branch in Roy, Utah, earned national recognition in the 2017 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program (IDEAS2). In honor of this achievement, members of the project team will be presented with awards from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) during a ceremony to take place at the building on Tuesday, June 6.

“An elegant steel structure creating an open and bright environment in a cold-weather climate,” commented David G. Allen, space and facilities manager with the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, and the owner juror in the competition.

The nearly 75,000-square-foot facility was built to serve as the new library headquarters for the county. The building incorporates a 143-foot “light bar” that begins in the main entrance and continues east through the building. It consists of a raised section of roof, designed with a Vierendeel truss system, which cantilevers beyond the east face of the building. The truss structure was infused with glass panels to provide natural light throughout the art gallery and east lobby. One of the library’s central features is a sculptural stair, designed with a folded steel plate tread that extends beyond the centrally placed stringers and overlooks the reading room with a two-story glass wall.

The project’s team members include:

• Owner: Weber County, Ogden, Utah
• Owner’s Representative: Weber County Library System, Roy, Utah
• Structural Engineer: ARW Engineers, Ogden, Utah (entered the project in the competition)
• Architect: Prescott Muir Architects, Salt Lake City
• General Contractor: R&O Construction, Ogden, Utah

The 13 IDEAS2 winners for 2017 were chosen from nearly 100 submissions received from architectural and engineering and other project team member firms throughout the U.S. Each submission is reviewed and award winners are selected by a nationally recognized panel of design and construction industry professionals.

“This building is a symphony of steel that holds its own with the works of art it houses,” said Charlie Carter, AISC’s president. “What a remarkable composition it makes for the people who will enjoy reading there. It feels like the perfect place, familiar for the paper book devotee and yet equally inviting for the e-reading or audiophilic bibliophile.”