Residents of Commerce City and surrounding areas will be amazed at the fantastic designs in the works for Anythink Commerce City. Humphries Poli Architects, in collaboration with Rangeview Library District, are renovating the current library at 7185 Monaco Street in Commerce City and adding 2,300 square feet of additional space. The goal of the project is to modernize the existing facility with sustainable technology and a unique design.

“Each of our new buildings has taken on their own personality, and Anythink Commerce City will be no exception,” says Rangeview Library District director Pam Sandlian Smith. “We hope that the renovated library will be a shining beacon in the heart of Commerce City and a model for other public spaces in the area. The residents there deserve a warm and welcoming space to call their own, and Anythink Commerce City will be just that.”

Construction on the project will begin during first quarter 2010 and is scheduled for completion late 2010. Features will include a new entry plaza facing the corner of 72^nd and Monaco; a children’s pavilion, computer lab and teen area; and a reading nook with fireplace looking out onto a small enclosed garden. The children’s pavilion will include glass walls looking out onto an outdoor children’s area and the coveted cottonwood tree, which has been a part of the site since before the original library was built.

The many sustainable features are what make this building truly unique. Solar light tubes will bring daylight into the center of the library, and recycled materials will be used throughout the interior to promote zero-waste practices and industries. A geothermal borefield will be drilled on the west side of the building, and the space above it will be used as a community garden. Geothermal heating and cooling is 25-50 percent more efficient than standard systems.

One of the most impressive features of the project will be a green roof over the children’s pavilion, providing a 1,200-square-foot habitat of native wildflowers, prairie grasses, and xeric succulents. Some of the benefits of a green roof include helping to keep the building cool, improved roof longevity and reduction of stormwater runoff. It will also act as a learning space, where children can observe the changes from season to season along with the various animals and insects through a periscope inside the children’s pavilion. Additionally, the garden outside the fireplace room will feature the same species as the green roof.

The Perl Mack and Thornton locations are also scheduled for renovations. Anythink Perl Mack will receive a full renovation and addition later in 2010, and Anythink Thornton is scheduled for interior renovations during first quarter 2010.