Monta Vista High School Library Addition &
Auditorium Renovation

Fremont Union
High School District

Cupertino, California

2,400 Students
Grades 9-12
Occupancy: 2006

An existing high school library occupying a prominent, central location within the campus needed to be enlarged and updated to meet the District’s new guidelines for an Information Learning Center (ILC). The transformation from a traditional library to the new ILC took place both in how the building was used and how it would look.

The existing library was dark with low ceilings and few windows.  Students preferred to gather outside the library instead of inside. The idea was to create a place that would promote gathering, socializing and learning opportunity both during and after school hours. 

The new ILC needed an identity that could be seen by the community as well as from the center of campus. A two-story, curved class reading area aligning with a view corridor to the main street marks the ILC’s corner entry. The side of the ILC that faces the academic quad is formal and relates to the scale of the two-story buildings that form the other three sides of the quad. Brick veneer walls and tile roofs were incorporated into the ILC design to match the brick end walls of the existing architecture.

The interior is filled with natural light from the three large windows facing the quad. The reading room, book stacks and computer area are easily supervised from the large circulation desk. Computer stations and casual reading areas provide gathering spaces. Judging from the students now preferring to be inside rather than outside, the school believes that ILC has been a huge success.