At Pleasant Hill Library in East Bay California, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson partnered with 475 High Performance Building Supply (475.Supply) to deliver a daylighting strategy that balances architectural expression with top tier performance. As the exclusive distributor of Lamilux skylights in the U.S. and Canada, 475.Supply supported the design team in integrating Lamilux FE Circular skylights into this civic building envisioned as a flexible, welcoming public living room.
The library’s central space is a 55-foot-by-200-foot, free-span hall designed to evolve with community needs, hosting everything from quiet study to large public gatherings. Daylight is fundamental to this adaptability. A continuous south-facing clerestory is paired with 12 LAMILUX FE Circular skylights each with a diameter of 60 inches, allowing natural light to penetrate deep into the space and naturally illuminate the interior throughout the day.
The Lamilux FE Circular was selected for its ability to deliver generous daylight while supporting the project’s ambitious performance goals. Featuring triple-pane glazing, an insulated aluminum frame, and a fully insulated curb assembly, the FE Circular helps limit thermal bridging, eliminate condensation risk, and manage solar gain. In Pleasant Hill’s sunny, Mediterranean climate these performance characteristics are critical to enabling increased daylight access without overheating, reinforcing the building’s all-electric, highly energy-efficient, and net-zero-ready approach.
By pairing expressive form with robust thermal performance, the Pleasant Hill Library demonstrates how carefully engineered skylights, specified and supplied through 475 High Performance Building Supply, can serve both architectural intent and long-term operational resilience. With diameters ranging from 36 inches to 87 inches, the FE Circular offers design flexibility as well as performance, and is ideally suited for residential, commercial, and institutional projects looking for a unique fenestration accent.
→ Continue reading at The Architect's Newspaper
