Dake Wells Architecture Chosen to Design Brentwood Branch Library Renovation
December 28, 2012 — Dake Wells Architecture of Springfield has been selected to design the renovation of the 41-year-old Brentwood Branch Library. The firm signed a contract with the Library in mid-December. The Library Foundation will lead a capital campaign to finance the estimated $2 million project.
Architect Andrew Wells is the principal in charge of the project; Jason Hainline, who serves as the firm’s sustainability director, will serve as project manager. His firm is also working with library planning consultants Clark Huesemann, of Lawrence, Kan.
Dake Wells Architecture was founded in 2004 by Brandon Dake and Andrew Wells, and serves public and private clients in the Ozarks.
Among past key projects: Missouri State University West Plains Student Recreation Center and campus planning, MSU’s Springfield campus Cheek Hall, Carrington Auditorium and Level 1 Game Center, Hass-Hoover Hall and Gohn-Wood House; Drury University North Campus Planning; KLF Architectural Systems; Andy’s Frozen Custard Home Offices and Expedia Springfield Operations Center.
Andrew has a special affinity for the Brentwood Branch – it’s his branch. He and his wife and children have lived nearby for about nine years. He appreciates it as a pleasant, intimate space with a smaller scale than the district’s destination libraries. But Andrew said he and the firm are in the listening and learning phase right now to fully understand what parts of the facility people are attached to and what makes it a memorable place not for him but for Brentwood’s longtime and faithful patrons.
“People like the kind of service they get, and the personal attention,” Andrew said. “The staff knows the regulars there, and the patrons know the staff, so that’s a big part of it. We’re trying to be conscious of how the architecture may affect that, and really what we’re trying to do is improve upon that.”
Andrew is looking forward to the project. “It’s an important project for the Library but also for the neighborhood and the community. These are the types of projects our firm is interested in doing in Springfield because of the way they serve people and affect people.”