A joint-use public partnership, the library serves both Tidewater Community College and the City of Virginia Beach and required the team to meet the programmatic needs of both users. The facility combines the research capacity, pedagogy support and study rooms of academic libraries with the extensive popular collections and community-oriented destinations of public libraries. The design features a long, thin building footprint of 125,000 sq ft spread over two stories and the length of a football field. As the eastern gateway to the campus, the library's two-story entry is a marker that aligns with a pedestrian axis connecting library to campus.
The design incorporates a sweeping "arc" brick facade and corridor intersected by rectangular sloping glass cubes. The building contains multiple roof levels, cantilevered bays and clerestory windows along the arc. Interiors have undulating wood ceilings, curved soffits and window pockets.