Project Leadership and Story of Project

Salt Lake County Library Services in conjunction with Architectural Nexus oversaw the creation of the Daybreak, Utah library. From the onset, this library had goals to be a high-efficient gathering space for the community.

The Salt Lake County Library at Daybreak is a public project located in a transit-oriented, pedestrian friendly mixed-use community. The Southwest portion of Salt Lake County is experiencing exponential growth, necessitating the addition of library services. Daybreak is a developing community surrounded by established, rapidly changing older neighborhoods. The libraries goal was to be “Something for Everyone”. The building site, surrounded by the Oquirrh Mountains, trails and Oquirrh Lake, had to be an iconic place located at the terminus of Trax, Salt Lake Valley’s key public transportation system. As a 21st century library the building and site have become an important hub of information and events, a community building that can be enjoyed by everyone for all types of activities.

Throughout the vigorous community engagement process designers received ample feedback that the building needed to be highly sustainable. The community also asked for highly adaptable outdoor spaces. The final design is a transformative building that smoothly meshes the transition from the natively planted site to the roof of the building with a continuous winding landscaped pathway. The path works its way around the outdoor amphitheater that opens from the Children’s Library space onto the public patio. The interior space boasts highly utilized spaces such as a maker’s space complete with a large variety of hands on learning experiences. Additionally, the maker’s space opens to the outdoors to accommodate bike repair classes and other outdoor friendly offerings. The best thing about the highly sustainable and successful library is that it was able to achieve Zero Energy Certification!

Design Process

The key location makes it important that this library was developed as a multigenerational destination building. The approach was to be timeless. It was important to avoid popular trends and design a building that could only exist in this location. The resulting project appears to grow up out of the earth as it had always been a part of the site. It was also important that the building be eco-friendly and cost effective to operate. The large photovoltaic array becomes a distinguishing feature to the buildings design, a provider of shade for pleasant outdoor rooms, and pushes the building along the path to achieving net zero energy. A thoughtful envelope design, using an innovative ground source HVAC system which does not use water are key elements to finding a balance between energy production and consumption on site. It should be noted that this highly efficient building was built at market rate right around $300/sf.

The Daybreak Library distinguishes itself as a 21st century library, a resource for the free exchange of thoughts, ideas and skills. Beyond the offerings of a traditional library it is a lab for learning. The maker space allows patrons the opportunity for hands on learning with tools such as sewing machines, crafting equipment, 3d and other print making equipment. A sound studio, complete with instruments provides opportunity for rehearsing and recording music as well as podcast production. There is a workshop which includes an opening wall. This indoor/outdoor space is perfect for teaching skills such as bicycle maintenance as the paths of the site tie directly into a regional trail system. To create a sense of place this project includes a universally accessible green roof as the “fifth elevation” which engages viewers from the surrounding balconies above. Native landscapes on the roof of this public building are always accessible, and represent the rewilding of Daybreak’s dense Town Center. Ultimately, the building tops out with a solar panel shade canopy for those enjoying the public space on the roof.

Energy Systems Narrative

The goal of creating a Zero Energy project mandated the use of the energy model as a design tool. The building form – a simple rectangle with optimal solar orientation and shading was selected and finessed with many iterations of window placement and size modeled for energy consumption. The use of a ground source HVAC system was investigated against other mechanical systems for energy performance, particularly since air changes may need to be increased based upon variable occupancies associated with public events. The energy model also aided the designers select an appropriate building envelop and glazing system, measuring the inputs for performance.

Ultimately, the energy model strongly impacted the building form as it helped identify the size of the photovoltaic array needed to allow the building to be Net Zero Energy Petal Certified. The size of the array impacts the shaded canopy of the building and planted roof, allowing for the roof of the building to be a useable community asset throughout the year.

Occupancy Issues

Like many projects that were built during the pandemic, cycling from an empty building to fully occupied caused a rapid influx of energy demand on the system. Ever since then, the occupancy levels have been somewhat inconsistent, causing an ebb and flow on the energy demand and irregularities when compared to the energy model.

Building Commissioning, Start Up, and Optimization