Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library

he new Ballard Branch, 5614 22nd Ave. N.W., opened May 14, 2005. The $10.6 million branch was the 15th project completed under the "Libraries for All" building program.  The building was designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and built by PCL Construction Services Inc. The roof sweeps north to bathe the interior with indirect light; a lower roof section provides an intimate scale for reading along the north wall. A covered porch area provides a civic face along the pedestrian corridor of 22nd Avenue Northwest. A "green roof" is planted with more than 18,000 low-water-use plants. A periscope inside the branch gives people a view of the roof and the Olympic Mountains. Artists Donald Fels, Andrew Schloss and Dale Stammen created the building's computer-generated artwork, which uses data from scientific devices on the roof that measure sunlight, the sound of rain, and wind speed and direction.