FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2020

IIDA AND ALA HONOR STANTEC AND SNØHETTA AS THE 2020 LIBRARY INTERIOR DESIGN AWARDS BEST OF COMPETITION WINNER

CHICAGO — IIDA and the American Library Association (ALA) are pleased to honor firms Stantec and Snøhetta as the Best of Competition winners of the 2020 ALA/IIDA Library Design Awards for Temple University’s Charles Library, a project the firms worked on collaboratively.

This biennial competition honors excellence in library interior design and promotes examples of extraordinary design reflected through innovative concepts. The firms were chosen from nine category winners and were announced as the Best of Competition winners during a virtual celebration on August 17.

“This pioneering space is shaping the future of Temple’s campus life and is representative of all that a contemporary library has to offer,” said IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon, FIIDA. “We are pleased to be honoring Stantec and Snøhetta and their incredible work on this transformative project.”

Entries were reviewed by a committee of interior design and library professionals: Gregory Mickells, library director, Madison Public Library; Bob Pasicznyuk, executive library director, Douglas County Libraries; Joseph A. Rondinelli, principal, DesignThink Consulting; Margaret Sullivan, principal, Margaret Sullivan Studio.

Located on Temple University’s Main Campus in North Philadelphia, the 220,000-square-foot project reimagines the traditional research library to be more than a repository of books, integrating the building with collaborative and social learning spaces. The project anchors a new social and academic heart for the university’s student body of over 39,000.

“This space is not only stunning but its design keeps the needs of Temple’s diverse community in mind,” said Rondinelli on behalf of the jury. “We were impressed with how the research library was created to also serve as an inviting gathering place for the public, combining comfortable open space with hi-tech amenities and resources.”

Images of the winning project can be viewed on the IIDA website and will be featured on the American Libraries magazine website.

For more information on this or other IIDA competitions, contact Clare Socker, IIDA competitions manager, at csocker@iida.org.

ABOUT IIDA
IIDA is the commercial interior design association with a global reach. We support design professionals, industry affiliates, educators, students, firms, and their clients through our network of 15,000+ members across 58 countries. We advocate for advancements in education, design excellence, legislation, leadership, accreditation, and community outreach to increase the value and understanding of interior design as a profession that enhances business value and positively impacts the health and well-being of people’s lives every day. www.iida.org