The Oregon Public Library is located beside Keller Alpine Meadows Park and Lerner Conservation Park in the Village of Oregon, Wisconsin. The building replaces a downtown facility that could no longer accommodate the community's needs. Designed by OPN Architects, the 31,257-square-foot, two-story library opened in January 2024 and is approximately three times the size of its predecessor.
Rather than treating the adjacent conservation landscape as a backdrop, the design integrates the site's orientation, daylight, landscape restoration, renewable energy systems, and pedestrian connections as components of its environmental strategy.
Orienting the library toward the conservation landscape
The library is oriented north to south along the western edge of the conservation area, allowing the principal public spaces to face the landscape. Large windows on each elevation bring daylight deep into the building, while the east-facing collection areas benefit from views across the prairie.
Offices, study rooms, meeting spaces, and the community room are concentrated along the west side, leaving the more open collection areas oriented toward the landscape. This arrangement balances daylight access with the library’s programmatic requirements. On the second floor, the adult collection and reading areas sit beneath vaulted ceilings, offering elevated views of the park.
The building's material palette also responds to the site's history. Light cream-city brick wraps the northwest and southeast corners, providing a durable masonry base, while dark board-and-batten cladding at the upper level references the agricultural buildings associated with the site's former rural character.
In the first-floor children’s area, a raised roof and windows on three sides of the reading room create a stronger connection to the landscape while supporting quietude and curiosity. The young adult area is adjacent to the maker space, while the second-floor adult area is separated from the typically louder first-floor spaces.
Geothermal heating and cooling
The library is all-electric, eliminating an on-site natural gas connection and associated combustion emissions. Heating and cooling are provided by electrically powered heat pumps connected to a ground-source geothermal system comprising 42 wells. Water circulates through the bore field to exchange thermal energy with the ground, providing a lower-energy alternative to conventional fossil-fuel heating and cooling systems.
The system was retained during value engineering despite significant changes to the project’s budget. According to the project team, the Village Board prioritized the geothermal and solar systems when construction costs increased, while the building was reduced in size by approximately 15 percent. The project ultimately received additional funding to retain these systems.
Solar generation and all-electric operation
The roof-mounted photovoltaic system consists of 129 solar panels with a total capacity of 61.92 kWdc. The system supplies electricity for library operations, with excess generation exported to the grid when available. The geothermal heat pumps are partially powered by the solar array, linking the building’s heating and cooling strategy directly to on-site renewable generation.
The photovoltaic installation was also designed with future expansion in mind. A 2025 energy study determined that the southwest-facing pitched roof could accommodate additional panels without requiring additional structural or inverter capacity.
Daylight, water and landscape strategies
Energy performance is supported by efficient windows and lighting, while extensive glazing reduces the need for artificial lighting during daylight hours. Water-conserving plumbing fixtures further reduce potable-water demand.
Stormwater management is integrated into the site's grading and landscape strategy. A grade change in the parking area allows runoff to be filtered at the surface before infiltrating into the ground, while larger retention ponds to the north and south of the building accommodate stormwater volumes.
Native vegetation and restored prairie areas are used across the site, reducing the extent of conventional turf and strengthening the ecological connection with the adjacent conservation landscape. The prairie restoration also requires an ongoing landscape-management strategy. The library has engaged prairie specialists to support its establishment during the first three years, recognizing that native prairie requires time to develop and stabilize.
Flexibility and long-term use
Adaptability is incorporated primarily through the floor plan rather than through a documented demountable construction system. Offices, study rooms, meeting rooms, and restrooms are concentrated along the west side, with meeting rooms sharing interior walls so that spaces can be converted between meeting and office functions as needs change.
Other movable boundaries increase short-term flexibility. A sliding glass door between the children's collection area and program room allows the spaces to operate independently or together, while the open second-floor arrangement can accommodate different configurations for collections, study, and community activities.
The building was designed with future expansion in mind. The site has also been arranged to accommodate future construction, additional parking, and expanded stormwater management.
Connecting community use with environmental education
A large east-facing patio provides an outdoor gathering and respite space, while views of the prairie restoration and the photovoltaic installation make environmental strategies visible to library users. The solar array in particular functions as an educational feature, demonstrating renewable-energy generation as part of everyday community use.
The library’s approach has also received recognition outside formal sustainability certification. It was named a 2023 Dane County Climate Champion for building design and has received additional architectural and engineering awards, including recognition through the 2025 ACEC Wisconsin Engineering Excellence Best of State Awards.
The building strengthens connections with both nature and the community through open spaces for gathering and smaller areas for reflection and relaxation.
