Bigfork Library design team had a focus on ethical building practices
The new Bigfork branch of Flathead County Library — set to open August 6 — is one of a series of projects worldwide that aims to draw awareness toward unethical practices in the building industry, according to the firm behind the branch’s architecture.
The Design For Freedom movement is an initiative started by the Grace Farms Foundation, a nonprofit which runs Grace Farms, a “center for culture and collaboration” based in New Canaan, Connecticut, according to its website. The movement requires selected pilot projects to ethically source at least five materials for the construction.
The Bigfork library is an anomaly among the other pilot projects, which include the Carnegie Ethics Hub in New York City and the Karsh Institute for Democracy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Cushing-Terrell Interior Designer Jessica Murray said the Bigfork design offered a look into how a rural, smaller community would tackle a Design For Freedom project.