While every project brings its own level of fun and excitement, some projects carry a little personal sentimental value. That was the case for the Glendale Library, located in Broad Ripple - Indianapolis.
The Glendale Library property is home to several important “family firsts.” My wife’s grandfather served in Europe during World War II, came home, bought a house in Broad Ripple, started a family, and voted for the first time at this location. This all came up in conversation one day as we were getting our first child ready for her first day of kindergarten at John Strange Elementary, which formerly occupied the current library site. It must have been a strong memory for my wife’s grandfather because he told us the same story several years later when our second child began kindergarten there as well.
The Glendale Library project began out of a need to relocate one of the busiest branches in the Indianapolis Public Library system from its previous location in Glendale Town Center to a new, standalone building embedded within a residential neighborhood. krM’s design team carried out a wide-reaching community engagement process that influenced the early design decisions for the project, particularly the building size of 25,000 square feet, material choices, and building programming. The design respects the scale of the surrounding neighborhood while still giving the presence of an important civic and community building.
The new library offers better accessibility for patrons, more daylight and study spaces, and updated service capabilities. The branch also includes a drive-up materials return, is accessible via public transportation, houses a community meeting room with a capacity of 100 people, and achieved LEED v4 Gold certification.
There’s something meaningful about seeing a place that once shaped so many childhood memories take on new life for the next generation of families and community members who will create their own stories there. Looking forward to seeing Glendale Library serve the Broad Ripple community for decades to come.
