The Sunrise Library has been serving the students and families of its northeast Las Vegas neighborhood since 1987. From the beginning, it was apparent the design of the building didn’t fit the needs of the community. And almost from the beginning, the library district outgrew the building’s capacity.

The youth services department at the library, located at 5400 E. Harris Ave., currently provides services for students at 36 schools in addition to their parents and families, and 11,000 infants and toddlers under the age of two. LGA set out to make sure the renovated space would accommodate the growth of this department.

LGA designed the renovation of the 6,000-square-foot facility to create a flow of space easily used and divided for multiple applications – from meals and homework sessions to story time activities, classes and movies – for children of all ages.

It also includes space for 22 computers and 12 laptops for student use – some in a room specific for homework and monitored by staff. Sunrise Library wasn’t previously equipped with a fire suppression system because it was designed and constructed before specific fire codes were in place, but we included one in this design as well.

Members of the LGA team met with librarians at Sunrise to take note of their needs, wants and wish lists for the renovation. Designers updated tradition with new design elements that kept with the Sunrise Library theme and original architectural features, such as the hexagon forms.

The result is a multi-use design with decorative elements such as giant building blocks used as storage space, a sun-inspired glowing ceiling soffit over the entry, rays of a sunrise that climb from the floor to the wall, and colored carpeted pathways that lead to the children and juvenile areas.