Walk into East County Library in Gresham, Oregon, and the wooden frame starts to look like a grove. The 95,000-square-foot building opened on May 16, 2026, after a six-year process of community engagement and construction. Its $163 million cost came from a voter-approved bond.
A forest idea that starts at the entrance
The forest comparison begins outside. Wooden columns rise past the exterior walls and carry a wide roof over the building. Narrow vertical windows repeat the column spacing across the facade. A sheltered entrance extends the public space toward the street, inviting visitors to experience the library architecture before stepping inside. The roof that shelters the entrance.
The library was designed by Holst Architecture with Adjaye Associates, which stayed on the project through design development. Holst’s press release describes the building as the firm’s largest public and civic project in its more than 30-year history.
Indoors, the trunk-like columns reach through double-height rooms. Exposed beams form a grid overhead, and skylights cast shifting light across the floor. The building includes 1,200 beams and columns, and 300 cross-laminated timber panels. Most of this structure stays visible.
If the exposed timber here sparks curiosity about how wood is worked by hand, a Portland house built around crafted beams shows the same material at home scale. Portland’s Historic Vista Hills Home Timber Craftsmanship offers a closer look at joinery and natural settings.
The main stair is the room’s focal point. Dezeen describes it as a wood-slatted spiral staircase that rises through the central atrium. From the upper level, the stair looks down onto a landscaped seating area with planting and curved benches.
Inside the east county library
Zones that quiet down as you walk east
Around the atrium, the ground floor opens into a shared living room. Sofas, lounge chairs, and small groups of seats invite people to meet, read, or sit without a purpose. The high ceilings keep the room airy, while the furniture scales it down.
Programs sort themselves along a line from busy to hushed. Children’s play areas, a teen room, creative labs, and the 200-seat auditorium cluster on the west side. Book stacks, community rooms, sensory spaces, and an audiovisual studio fill the middle. Study and solo work settle on the east end.
On the east side, large windows throw light across carrels and long tables. The columns and beams look the same as elsewhere, but the furniture groups shrink to suit one person or a pair. The layout assumes that patrons use the building in different ways across a single day, from an evening event to a full afternoon of solo work.
What residents asked the library to do
Community input shaped the program. Holst’s release says the team logged thousands of interactions through events, surveys, tabling, and focus groups.
Residents asked for an auditorium for performances and lectures. Parents wanted children’s spaces with indoor and outdoor play. Teens asked for a room designed around studying, technology, and social interaction. More than 550 people voted on the interior palette, and the winning scheme was called “Cool Coastal.”
The creative spaces give the east county library a working role beyond lending. The Creative Learning Room holds 3D printers and laser engravers for hands-on projects. The audiovisual studio supports music, podcast, and video production. The auditorium hosts larger events.
The site itself points toward the neighborhood. The east county library replaces an underused park-and-ride lot at NW Division Street and NW Eastman Parkway, about 17 miles east of Portland. A tree-lined pedestrian path links the public plaza to a light-rail station and several bus routes. Nearly 44,000 square feet of outdoor space includes a rooftop terrace.
The library’s outdoor terrace and tree-lined approach also raise the question of how timber buildings can share space with living systems. Italian Timber Pavilion Harmonizing Humans and Wildlife explores a similar balance between built wood and the surrounding landscape.
The design team and the changes
Adjaye Associates was the original design partner, and the building follows much of its earlier layout. Adjaye Associates remained on the project through the Design Development phase. Dezeen reports that the allegations were made public in a Financial Times investigation, and that Adjaye denies them.
Holst then took the project forward. Shreiner moved into the design principal role, according to Architectural Record. Dezeen names the removed overhanging screens and a tower above the roof plane as the most visible changes.
Oehlke, the former director of the Multnomah County library system, summed up the goal. “With some intention, a beautiful building, completely open to everybody, is a way of providing that access.”
H/T yankodesign.com
Frequently asked questions
When did East County Library in Gresham, Oregon open to the public?
East County Library in Gresham, Oregon opened on May 16, 2026, after a six-year process of community engagement and construction. The 95,000-square-foot building was funded by a voter-approved bond that covered its $163 million cost.
Who designed the East County Library building?
The library was designed by Holst Architecture with Adjaye Associates, which stayed on the project through design development. Holst’s press release describes it as the firm’s largest public and civic project in its more than 30-year history.
How many wooden beams and columns are in East County Library?
The building includes 1,200 beams and columns, along with 300 cross-laminated timber panels. Most of this structure stays visible inside the library.
Where is the East County Library located and what site did it replace?
The library is in Gresham, Oregon, at NW Division Street and NW Eastman Parkway, about 17 miles east of Portland. It replaces an underused park-and-ride lot and is linked by a tree-lined pedestrian path to a light-rail station and several bus routes.
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