MS&R Architecture Transforms a Vacant Wal-Mart Into an Enormous Public Library

Local governments across the United States face a similar problem: what to do with abandoned and vacant commercial properties? In many cases, unused shopping malls and big-box stores at the fringes of town are left to crumble, but the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAllen,_Texas">McAllen, TX</a> came up with a better idea. Left with a vacant <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/wal-mart/">Wal-Mart</a> store, the city purchased the massive building from the retail giant and transformed it into <a href="http://www.psfk.com/2012/06/abandoned-wal-mart-transformend-into-a-beautifully-designed-library.html">a functional and modern new main library</a>.

After its extreme makeover, the former big-box store is hardly recognizable.

The cavernous, warehouse-like building was completely gutted and reconfigured to make way for bookshelves, reading nooks, a computer lab, conference rooms, a copy center, and even an auditorium.

Just to give you an idea of how big it is, 124,500-square-structure is roughly equivalent to 2 1/2 football fields, making it the biggest single-story library in the country.

Minneapolis-based  <a href="http://dev.msrltd.com/">Meyer, Scherer &amp; Rockcastle</a> was hired to complete the conversion, and the firm was recently named the winner of the The International Interior Design Association's <a title="IIDA" href="http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/ala-image-gallery">2012 Library Interior Design Competition</a>.

About 2,000 people reportedly queued up on opening day in December, and new account registrations are up.

The designers also used several hanging graphic elements to help break up the space visually.

The firm installed a strip of laser-cut wood into the ceiling plane to visually divide the library, with the computer lab on the left and meeting rooms on the right.

Before the renovation began, the architects were working with a blank slate.