The Seattle Central Library is the flagship library of the Seattle Public Library system. The 11-story (185 feet or 56 meters high) glass and steel building in downtown Seattle,Washington was opened to the public on Sunday, May 23,2004. Situated on a sloping site between 4th and 5th street the new library will have entrances on both street levels. The entrance level on 4th Street, one of Seattle’s main thoroughfares, houses the Children’s Library and foreign-language resources. Rem Koolhaas is the architect.

Unlike traditional libraries, Seattle Central Library is organized into spatial compartments that are dedicated to and equipped for specific duties. Each platform is a programmatic cluster that is architecturally defined and equipped for maximum performance. The spaces between the platforms function as trading floors where librarians inform and stimulate. The eleven-level Seattle Library is wrapped in a diamond-shaped curtain wall that folds and cantilevers onto the street. The diagonal structural grid of the curtain wall acts as a seismic brace and resists wind load. Steel mesh within the glazing reduces heat and glare.
The grid’s diamonds are seven feet at their tallest and four feet at their widest. They are installed in 80-by-12-foot sections, the largest that could be trucked on Interstate 5. On the outside of the grid, the building will be sheathed in double- and triple-glazed windows manufactured by the German firm Seele.

Color is used to define different interior functions. Against the black ceiling and grey interior palette, these colored areas are great wayfinding devices – such as the illuminated, bright yellow acrylic panels for the escalators and lifts. The black ceiling also accentuates the vertical nature of large public gathering spaces. Sandwiched between the grand plaza and reference area are the closed meeting rooms, defined by the red floor and curved walls and ceiling.
The $10.9 million branch has an updated collection and the capacity to hold 66,700 books and materials. Highlights include materials related to the local maritime and fishing industry, and a world languages collection that contains books, tapes, newspapers and magazines in languages other than English. The new branch has self-checkout stations, 38 computers (up from 13), underground parking, a special area for teens, and a meeting room. The children’s area in the prominent northwest corner overlooks the future municipal park space. Through a child’s eye, the skewed concrete columns on the first floor will seem playful. “From every vantage point it looks different”, said Jay Taylor of Magnusson Klemencic Associates. “The different orientation could really make a magical space.”