Our task as a studio was to integrate this program with the AIA COTE competition requirements for a sustainable building. In addition, all of our work in our supplementary building systems class was designed to directly integrate with our studio project. Thus, the West Bozeman Branch Library represents the most comprehensive building design I had ever completed as a student. My design emphasizes local materials, cost-effective sustainable strategies, and dense development practices as a role model for the rapid growth within its neighborhood.

The West Bozeman Branch Library was a culmination of my undergraduate coursework at Montana State University that demonstrates my synthesis of building systems and design work. On the actual site that will become a new branch library and community center in West Bozeman, this project proposed a 23,900 gross square foot program on a 187,000 square foot plot. The library’s programmatic elements were set by an estimated square footage determined by current Library employees.