UNL Love Library & Learning Commons

After an initial renovation to the main library on UNL’s City Campus, the University sought further program direction to increase the size and capabilities of the Learning Commons. BVH provided programming and design concepts for repurposed spaces on the second floor to accommodate the move of the Archive and Special Collections and the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, as well as provide additional student collaborative learning spaces of varying size and scale.

The design provides flexible and varied types of student areas for study and connection, from small personal nooks to large group meeting rooms. Exterior renovations will connect passersby with the dynamic interior spaces by transforming the opaque, stoic facade of the Link. Underutilized stack space will be repurposed into varied formal and informal collaborative learning spaces, classrooms, and specialty departments. Open light shafts bring in much-needed natural light, and way-finding visually connects the first and second floors in order to improve user experience and ease building navigation.