The Walnut Creek Branch Library project was an expansion and renovation of a library built in 1970. Besides having outgrown its facility, the library also suffered from very poor visibility. The original building was designed in a manner that turned its back on a street immediately to its south side. Instead, it was placed facing another street approximately 1,300 feet to the north. Shortly after the library opened, a strip shopping center was constructed between the library and the street, resulting in the library being totally hidden from the northern street. RHA’s design for the new library involved reversing the front and rear of the building. The former front of the building (that faced the rear of the shopping center) became the back of the renovated building and the previous backside of the library was expanded and became the front. The library now faces the street that it previously turned its back to.