A responsive, people-centred front-of-house is essential for today’s community-focused library. This guide explores how to choose service desks that create a comfortable, engaging, and purpose-fit space. It highlights the new generation of smart desks that are adaptable, open, and ergonomic, designed to enhance staff and customer well-being and create a welcoming environment where people want…

Large wooden beams frame the interiors of L’échappée, a multimedia library in France designed by local practice Atelier WOA, as an alternative to “institutional and cold” public buildings. Occupying a long narrow site in Herblay sur Seine, L’échappée – meaning “escapade” in English – faces a road to the north with a stone and glass…

Here at Yakety Yak Furniture, we aim to provide height-adjustable service desks that meet the needs of any library, education or community space. That’s why our pods, desks, counters and support modules are designed to stand alone or group together. They offer multiple options for maximum versatility, providing a dynamic alternative to traditional circulation counters.…

US architecture studio Cannon Design has referenced the local landscape and “prioritised inclusion”, drawing on the Native American heritage of the site for its design of a university student center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Cannon Design completed the 163,000-square foot (15140-square meter) Western Michigan University Student Center in 2023. “The primary concept of the building was…

Here at Yakety Yak Furniture, our aim is to provide customer service desks that meet the needs of any library, education or community space. That’s why our pods, desks and support modules are designed to stand alone or group together, offering multiple options for maximum versatility. In this article, we’ll be showing how our customers…

Architecture studio Yukawa Design Lab has created a children’s library overlooking Shirasagi Park in Sakai, Japan. Connected by a bridge to the neighbouring park, Yukawa Design Lab designed the timber-framed building with large windows to connect it to the green space. On the ground floor, the 192-square-metre building has an infant zone and cafe along…

Here at Yakety Yak Furniture, we aim to provide customer service desks that meet the needs of any library, education or community space. That’s why our pods, desks and support modules are designed to stand alone or group together, offering multiple options for maximum versatility. Even better, they are easy to move and reconfigure as…

Architecture studio BuildingWork drew upon historic buildings and Indigenous culture to create the cedar-clad La Conner Swinomish Library in a maritime community in the Pacific Northwest. The building is located in La Conner, a small town along the Swinomish Channel in northern Washington. Situated along a main street in the town’s historic district, the building…

Today, we take it for granted that the seats in our cars can be adjusted electronically for a perfect fit and a more comfortable drive. At Yakety Yak, we believe that our workspaces should offer the same flexibility and comfort. So, all our pods, desks and counters feature electric height-adjustable worktops, putting the staff member…

UK architecture practice Heatherwick Studio has revealed the design for its first public library, a plant-covered building in Columbia, Maryland. Designed for Howard County Libraries, the plant-covered building will be located alongside Lake Kittamaqundi in the community of Columbia near Baltimore, which was developed in the 1960s. “Columbia has always been driven by a socially…