Ballard Library

(image via: Woodschool)

Seattle has a thing for cool libraries, it seems. The Ballard Library is a public project that stresses green design features without compromising convenience and accessibility for book readers.

(image via: Greenroofs.org)

Built in 2005 at a cost of just under $11 million, the Ballard Library features an innovative “green roof” consisting of native grasses and sedums planted 4 to 6 inches deep in a custom growing medium topped with a biodegradable coconut fiber mat.