Palo Alto High School, Library Renovation

Palo Alto, California

Firm

HED

Client

Palo Alto Unified School District

Area

25,600 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$10,100,000

Completion Date

02/2019

Tim Maloney

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Design Team: Erwin Lee (Principal-in-Charge); Charles Ham (Project Manager/Architect); Lien Pham (Architectural Designer); Randy Wiley (Structural); David Rausch (Specification Writer)

The former high school library, built in 1970, was disjointed, dark, and inefficient. Palo Alto High School staff and HED envisioned a space that would have updated technology, natural light, and a more functional, open layout with clear sight lines and improved circulation patterns.

Still contained within its original footprint, the modernized building is now a popular destination for more than 2,000 students. It houses four distinct program areas: the library, an adjacent gallery, college and career counseling, and guidance services.

The centerpiece of the renovation is the multifaceted library, with its silent and group study rooms, flexible instructional space, reading nooks, and productivity center. The fiction and nonfiction collections surround a large reading room and study area with overhead natural light and comfortable seating. A new mezzanine level, with a dramatic spiral staircase, now divides the space into upper and lower levels and displays the library’s rare books collections and its 125-year-old journalism archive, which previously was in storage.