Continuing its long-standing tradition of a decentralized library system, Wake County entered into partnership with the City of Raleigh to build a new regional library to better serve their citizens in the northern region of the county. With the busiest library system in the state, and housing the largest public library collection in North Carolina, the regional facility was designed uniquely to meet the programmatic needs of the specific community.

The North Raleigh facility utilized an existing office building on the site and incorporated a major addition to increase its size to the 30,000 square foot program. The staff at this facility wanted one large open space.

The resulting area is filled with daylight from a new clerestory monitor added in the addition. By recycling an existing building, and by utilizing unique stormwater management techniques (including an underground storage facility which captures rainwater for irrigation purposes) and onsite retention ponds, this facility adopts many sustainable building techniques that are quickly becoming goals for all Wake County facilities.

Upon opening in the Spring of 2007, the North Regional Library was quickly embraced by the community and began setting new records for circulation and visitation.