Part of a re-vitalization project for the City Centre area, the building was designed by Bing Thom.

[2] The library is located northwest of Surrey Central station in the Whalley / City Centre neighbourhood.

Faced with a short public consultation period, the architects used social media to gain input from the community.

The library has 7,200 square metres (78,000 sq ft) of usable space spread over four floors.

[3] Its 100,000-item collection of print materials is modest for a large urban library; the library is focused on community services such as language programs for Surrey's large immigrant population, youth and adult programs, and computer access.