Fountaindale Public Library Teen Library

Serving the Teen Aesthetic and Study Habits
The Vortex Teen Library draws young adults into a relevant, energized 3500 SF, which they helped brainstorm and name.

Teens desired a microcosm of the real adult library with a diversity of resources and an increased book collection. The renovation presents an identity and form that speaks to young adult interests. Clever and recycled materials, imagery of vortexes, Asian influences, and reconfigurable formal and informal spaces help entice and surprise.

Elements include an Animé wall wrap, computer bar, a Think Epic chain drape, and two-sided seating that faces either performance or media. The XL Big Table is a real time social network, a communal feast of face-to-face.

The teen library design is not at all pristine.
The Vortex is casual, considered, and carefully crafted.

To download Cindy Coleman’s Chicago Architect magazine article, click here:
The Teen Scene: Library Space for Teenagers Flexes, Slouches With Them

See our award-winning design for teens at the Evanston Public Library.

Award:
Design Excellence Award, American Society of Interior Designers, 2011.
Award given for significant achievement for a public project.

Owner:  Fountaindale Public Library
Interior Architecture & Interactive Design:  Architecture Is Fun, Inc.
Art & Designed Object Sourcing & Procurement:  Fun Finders
Architect of Record:  Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architecture
Location:  Bolingbrook/Illinois
Status:  Completed 2011
Photography:  © Doug Snower Photography