Austin Central Library Receives 2018 AIA/ALA Library Building Award

Congratulations to Lake | Flato and Shepley Bulfinch whose new Austin Central Library project was one of six libraries to receive the 2018 AIA/ALA Library Building Award for excellence in architectural design from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association (ALA).  The six libraries awarded reflect new trends in library design that focuses on gathering spaces and sustainability targets such as water and energy conservation.  These trends speak to the changing role of libraries within communities.

Integral Group Austin and San Jose design studios are proud to be providing technical expertise in designing the photovoltaic (PV) array on the City of Austin‘s downtown network. This achieved the City’s goal of maximizing the available PV while working with the public utility to ensure energy is not exported to the downtown network. The Austin Central Library was the first new construction installation of PV on the Austin downtown network. Such a project could not have been possible without collaboration with the local utility, Austin Energy, which donated $60,000 to tie the project’s 180kW PV system into the downtown grid. This project is serving as a pilot for more PV installation on the downtown network in the future.

Read more about the 2018 AIA/ALA Library Building Award winners here, and the Austin Central Library project here.