The Township of Plainsboro, New Jersey has a diverse and rapidly increasing population. As part of its planning for future growth, local planners resolved to build a Town Center based on New Urbanist principles, including a denser mix of residential and commercial development, concentrated around a pedestrian-friendly town green. After weighing the option of an addition to its existing library building, the Town, Library and BKSK resolved to build a new 46,500 square foot building as a civic anchor for the new Center. By carefully considering the future scale and massing of the Center, BKSK shaped the proposed design of the Town Green at the Center’s heart.

Working in concert with its surroundings, the exterior architecture affirms the Library’s prominent position at the head of the Green. Meanwhile, its interior spaces are designed to reflect the Library’s ambitious program of services in a way that celebrates the energy and diversity of the community. More than just a repository of books and periodicals, the Library program includes an internet café, a children’s science center, a gallery for showcasing local art, and a multi-purpose community room, fully embracing the civic role a modern library can play. Its central Reading Room now functions as the heart of a vibrant community, its light-filled space an extension of a well-used Town Green.