On Monday, September 18th, Pleasant Hill City Council selected the firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) to oversee architectural and design services for the new Pleasant Hill Community Library. BCJ is a national, award winning firm with offices in San Francisco. Their team of architects and library designers have many years of experience in major public and private projects.
Since the passage of Measure K in November 2016, the City has been active in laying the groundwork for the construction of the new library, as well as funding public infrastructure projects around Pleasant Hill.
In April this year, City staff issued a Request for Proposals for the design of the library. The City received 11 excellent proposals from some of the top firms in California. After extensive review of the proposals, presentations by six finalists, and site visits to meet with the final three firms, BCJ was identified as the architect with the strongest project team and with a track record of designing signature projects that create a sense of place and blend with their surroundings.
Some examples of the design work of BCJ include the Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis, the Presidio Visitor Center, Newport Beach Civic Center & Library, Ballard Library in Seattle, Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, and Mills College School of Business. They are also responsible for the design of landmark Apple stores worldwide including the one in Stanford, Palo Alto.
BCJ's team includes Margaret Sullivan Studio (MSS), a design firm specializing in programming and designing the library of the 21st century. MSS is fully committed to a robust community engagement process, including extensive workshops and focus group meetings throughout the design phase of the project. Ms. Sullivan is a national leader in the visioning, programming, and interior design of public libraries of the future.
The City Council is scheduled to formally award the contract for the design of the library to BCJ at its meeting on October 16th. The first in a series of workshops and public meetings with BCJ's team will then be scheduled for sometime in November. The City will post announcements about this once the dates, times and venues have been finalized.
It is anticipated that the complete design phase of the library will take approximately 18-24 months to complete. Construction of the new building is expected to begin late 2019 or early 2020 with anticipated completion in 2021.
For more information on the library project, please contact Martin Nelis at mnelis@pleasanthillca.org or call (925) 671-5229.