Completed 2019
16,000 square feet
New Construction

LEED v4 - Gold

In late 2015, Oudens Ello began working with the Town of Dartmouth, MA on a concept design for a new single-story branch library on town-owned land north of Route 6, a busy commercial artery running east-west through town. The new facility replaces an aging existing branch library, located south of Route 6, that is slated for demolition pending a state road re-routing project. One of nine Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) Construction Grant Award winners in 2017, the project was completed in the fall of 2019.  

Set back from Cross Road and positioned on a slight rise in the land, the building straddles an existing open meadow landscape, facing the road, and large tract of undisturbed woodland with many old growth trees and native species. The adult, young adult and children’s wings are all oriented towards the woodland and are organized in such a way as to form a reading garden linked to both an adjacent elementary school and assisted living facility by way of new garden pathways. The site and design for the new library reflect the Dartmouth’s agrarian underpinnings, as well as its commitment to sustainability. The LEED v4 Gold project’s green features include rain gardens, permeable paving, a super insulated building envelope, variable refrigerant flow (VRF) HVAC systems and a 63,000 kWh photovoltaic array generating close to 40% of the building’s annual electrical load.