ABSTRACT
The chapter provides insights into the collaboration between architects and engineers at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), who worked in partnership with consultants and constructors to realize the Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach, California. The collaboration highlights the achievements of reusing an existing parking garage as the foundation for the building, and harnessing mass timber as a way to lower the carbon footprint. A pavilion in the park, the library integrates structure and architecture through mass timber to create a welcoming civic space.
