South Central Regional Library Louisville, Kentucky Architecture, Architects, United States
South Central Regional Library in Louisville
New Community Building Development, USA – design by JRA Architects
Jun 23, 2018
South Central Regional – Louisville Free Public Library
South Central Regional – Louisville Free Public Library Building
Design: JRA Architects
Location: 7300 Jefferson Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40219, USA
The new South Central Regional Library brings service to a previously underserved area of Louisville.
The facility provides 100,000 nearby residents with an accessible, inviting, and healthy place to access, enjoy, and participate in information sharing.

The structure is built within the last remnants of a once vast urban forest. All project design decisions were made to celebrate and protect the character and quantity of the existing trees. Over one third of the site was left completely untouched, allowing visitors to have an intimate view into the undisturbed forest. A bosque of existing mature trees was left in the midst of the parking area to shade the pavement and building, as well as create a unique public gathering space dappled with sunlight filtering through the old growth tree canopy. Specimen trees lost during construction were milled into lumber that is featured throughout the new building, while site utilities were carefully routed through existing clearings to avoid damaging delicate roots.

The library is a vessel for day...