Martin Luther King Library

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  Exterior View into the Martin Luther King Popular Library

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  Label guide system on stack ends makes changing information, by staff, easy and inexpensive.

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  Refinishing stacks required careful removal of adhesive and refinishing steel case shelve ends

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  Book stacks and original Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Chairs

At the Martin Luther King Library in DC, Bell Architects redesigned the 11,000 sqft Popular Library into an inviting space that respects the design intent of the building's original architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Paris Design refurbished the book stacks in the Popular Library and developed a new labeling system for use throughout the MLK Library. Low-VOC black paint was used on the stacks as part of our commitment to sustainable materials.  

Holes on the end panels, remnants from the original lost-to-time label hardware, now hold black Sintra alignment bars. This allows quick replacement of magnet-backed, acrylic sleeves. Easily changed paper insertsconform with the "Less-is-More" feeling of this historic space.