Northwest Branch Library – High Ridge

Sapp Design Associates Architects PC, with project administrator Michael J. Sapp, project manager James C. Stufflebeam and project architect Pamela J. Haldiman, is the architect and interior designer for the Northwest Branch Library for the Jefferson County Library District in High Ridge. Mettemeyer Engineering LLC is the structural engineer. Tennill & Associates Inc. of Chesterfield is the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer. The nearly $2.3 million project transformed a 20-year-old grocery store building that most recently housed a furniture store into a library that was completed Sept. 19. In addition to the library, the 35,000-square-foot structure also includes 2,500 square feet for the Jefferson County Library District central administration offices and 3,500 square feet leased to the Jefferson Community College. The library features meeting rooms, a computer lab and public access computers, a reading room with fireplace, genealogy center, children’s library, gift shop and coffee shop. The interior features a variety of colors and architectural features for all ages. The exterior is refocused by the addition of a new free-standing, 35-foot façade with a large circle piercing the curved face. The circle is flanked by two vertical open slots to symbolize a globe between two books, representing the global and universal opportunities provided by the library. The new library is a sister facility to another branch that opened in Arnold in May.