Building Community Through Innovation: Anythink Nature Library
At the intersection of education, sustainability, and community, the new Anythink Nature Library in Thornton, Colorado represents more than just a building, it’s a destination designed to connect people with nature, learning, and each other.
Set on a 15-acre site within a 140-acre open space, the 33,000-square-foot library is thoughtfully designed to blur the lines between indoors and outdoors. With trailheads, outdoor learning areas, and gardens integrated into the site, the facility invites visitors to explore, discover, and engage with their environment in new ways.
A Library Designed for Experience
Unlike traditional libraries, Anythink spaces are built around community engagement. This project embraces that philosophy fully: offering areas for children, teens, and adults to gather, learn, and participate in hands-on programming. From study rooms to interactive outdoor spaces, the library supports everything from quiet reading to collaborative learning.
A central theme of the design is “bringing the outside in and the inside out.” Visitors will experience open, light-filled interiors that connect visually and physically to the surrounding landscape, creating a seamless transition between built and natural environments.
Engineering for Sustainability and Education
MTech Mechanical played a key role in delivering a high-performance mechanical system that supports the library’s ambitious sustainability goals. The project is pursuing LEED Gold certification (with potential to reach Platinum), incorporating a ground-source geothermal system with over 25 heat pumps to maximize energy efficiency.
But what makes this project truly unique is how those systems are shared with the public.
An interactive, mobile educational kiosk, developed as part of MTech’s scope, will allow visitors, especially young learners, to explore how the building works. Designed at a fourth-grade learning level, the kiosk translates complex systems into engaging, accessible content, including:
- Real-time energy usage and solar data
- How geothermal heating and cooling works
- Water usage and conservation strategies
- Local plants, animals, and environmental features
Project Manager Sydnie Wheeler takes local middle and high school girls on a behind-the-scenes tour of the library, an opportunity to share her experience working in the mechanical industry with young women interested in STEM career paths.
This feature transforms the building itself into a teaching tool, helping the community understand sustainability in action.
Overcoming Challenges with Creativity
MTech team members learned how crawlspaces got their names while they looked at 24 of the library’s 33 heat pumps during a jobsite tour in celebration of Women in Construction Week.
Delivering a project of this complexity required thoughtful planning and problem-solving from day one. One of the biggest challenges came early: installing 24 geothermal heat pumps into a confined crawl space. The team coordinated installation sequencing well before construction began, placing and protecting the equipment ahead of structural work to ensure safety and efficiency.
Additional challenges included:
- Maintaining strict acoustic requirements for a quiet library environment
- Adapting to evolving refrigerant regulations and schedule impacts
- Installing over 200 floor air distribution grilles that blend in seamlessly with floor finishes
- Navigating weather impacts, including significant rainfall during construction
Through proactive coordination, full BIM integration, and close collaboration with partners like GH Phipps, WSP, and Davis Partnership Architects, the team delivered solutions that kept the project moving forward.
A Project to Be Proud Of
For many on the project team, this library is more than just another job, it’s personal. Whether it’s building a space their own families will use or contributing to a landmark community resource, the impact is tangible and MTech is proud to play a role in bringing this project to life.
The Anythink Nature Library stands as a reflection of what’s possible when innovation, collaboration, and purpose come together. It’s not just a place to read, it’s a place to learn, connect, and experience the future of sustainable design.
In honor of National Library Week and Earth Month, Anythink Libraries Foundation is running a donation campaign throughout April to support programming at the Nature Library. As a way to show appreciation, individuals who donate $500 or more will be invited to an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the library before it opens to the public. Any donation under $500 enters you into a raffle to win tickets to this event.
