Library Designed to Mirror Region's Aesthetics

Choosing building materials reminiscent of the agricultural structures common to the region, the design of Varina Area Library in Henrico, Va., blended wood and stone, as well as metal roofing and wall panels from Morin, A Kingspan Group Company.

“It was an attempt to reflect the buildings of the area,” says Kylan Shirley, AIA, of BCWH Architects of Richmond, Va. “It’s an area with a lot of barns, once dependent on agriculture, but it’s changing fast.”

The Varina Area Library is a new 43,000-square-foot facility on 22 acres of land in the rural, eastern section of Henrico County. It replaces a 6,000-square-foot building that served the area for more than 40 years.

The library was one of eight in the United States and Europe recently honored for its exemplary architecture and design. The annual Library Building Award is given by the American Institute of Architects in concert with the America Library Association. Any public libraries built since 2012 and designed by architects licensed in the U.S. were eligible for the award.

Varina’s citizens wanted an active library that provided a “next generation” of library services. According to the BCWH website, the library’s design “is rooted in the landscape and the history of the Varina district. The building and materials are reminiscent of the agrarian structures that one populated the area. Borrowing on the form of a tobacco barn, the main library functions are housed in three pavilions that sit seemingly independent on the site.”

Approximately 32,500 square-feet of Morin’s SLR-16 roofing panels were installed on the Varina Library by Roofing Systems of Virginia. The 22-gauge Galvalume panels were in the PVDF color Silversmith. The project included 7,833 square feet of Morin’s F-16 wall panels, in 18-gauge Galvalume, also in Silversmith.