The entrance to the newly rebuilt Woodridge Library offers up a few subtle clues as to what lies inside: an intriguing white lattice adorning the roof, a pop of orange out front. It won’t prepare patrons for what awaits them.

“There’s not a bad view in the house,” says D.C. Public Library executive director Richard Reyes-Gavilan, with a sweeping wave to the two floors of windows on the building’s south side.

The library is awash in natural light, with a floor-to-ceiling vista of Langdon Park. “This is stunning,” he says. “It really is.” Once jaws close and visitors get a chance to look around, they’ll only find more to gape at, including a circular cutout on the third floor, providing a view of the two floors below, and DCPL’s first rooftop garden.

The dramatic new facility has been in the works for more than four years, replacing a building that dated back to 1958. While keeping in step with DCPL’s standard building program, the Bing Thom-designed library has the undulating curves and intrigue of an art museum with the cheer and inspiration of a visionary community space.

There is also an obsessive attention to details that mirror the intent of “designing for people and not for objects,” Reyes-Gavilan says.

On a tour, he can’t go more than few feet without pointing out accommodations large and small for the patrons they will soon serve. A large meeting room is placed in a corner of the building; it has a separate entrance and can be sealed off from the rest of the building in the event that a group wants to use it after the library’s operating hours. Bleacher-style seating next to the main staircase offers a place for caregivers to watch over their charges in the spacious children’s area below.

The pre-teen section is strategically placed away from the rest of the kids area, so they have their own space, but still well within eyesight of the librarian on the second floor information desk. And by my count, there were at least 10 different kinds of chairs or seating arrangements.

It shouldn’t be surprising at this point, given the library system’s track record of building exciting, design-focused facilities. Two of them, Bellevue and Francis Gregory, came from the mind of David Adjaye, who is also behind the already well-regarded National Museum of African American History and Culture. “That started it all off for us in a way,” Reyes-Gavilan says, as more starchitects came on board to reimagine the District’s libraries for the 21st century.

This is Thom’s first library in D.C. (though he had previously designed one in Surrey, British Columbia), but his work will be familiar to any Washingtonian who has visited Arena Stage since he reenvisioned it in 2010. In describing that project—which included adding a third theater to two pre-existing structures and enclosing them in a glass structure—Architect magazine wrote that the “dramatic sculptural qualities are rational and purposeful, not arbitrary or whimsical.” That describes Woodridge, too, where natural light, verdant park views, curves fitted with bar seating, and two outdoor spaces are meant to inspire and draw patrons in.

Woodridge is the first D.C. library with not just one, but two functioning outdoor spaces: a terrace on the first floor and the rooftop. The latter is deeply impressive from both the third-floor reading room, which is enclosed in glass, and from the tables and chairs set up outside. Stare for a while and the greens of the hearty succulents and sedums seem to bleed right into the treetops emerging from Langdon Park.

It is also a small taste of things to come at Martin Luther King Library, which will have a much larger rooftop space after it undergoes a three-year renovation project.

“We want to build something that people will want to stay in for a period of time. So many people are self employed today or taking courses online. It is incumbent on libraries to provide a third space for them,” Reyes-Gavilan says.

Certainly they went to lengths to provide a nurturing, creative, and safe space for children (including those who will soon reside at the new Ward 5 family homeless shelter to be built just down the street), but the trickier thing was creating a space for adults who have a wide variety of options to lay their laptops.

One thing that’s not there: a cafe. The desire for coffee beans with books came up early in the community feedback process, but, in the meantime, the excellent Zeke’s Coffee popped up down the road. “The community preferred to support the business rather than open up another coffee shop,” says DCPL spokesman George Williams, who grew up going to the original Woodridge Library.

Janette Graham, Woodridge’s head librarian, says “there’s no comparison” between the original and new spaces. She’s gearing up for the official opening on September 28, and the grand opening party. “We’re ready to greet them—we have so much to offer when they come in,” she says, taking particular care to emphasize that it will be a “welcoming space for lifelong learners.”

The ribbon cutting will mark a number of firsts, including the first new library inauguration for both Mayor Muriel Bowser and Reyes-Gavilan in their current positions (the brand new Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will also be there).

Reyes-Gavilan has frequently said that he took the position in 2014, coming from the Brooklyn Public Library, in large part because of the District’s commitment to its facilities. “D.C. has made such an incredible investment in libraries. Very few cities have this kind of building activity,” Reyes-Gavilan notes, before ticking off the five other projects currently in the works; Cleveland Park, Palisades, Capital View, MLK, and Southwest are in varying stages of design planning for either major renovations or complete rebuilds.

One of his first weeks on the job included the demolition of the old Woodridge building. Surveying the finished work, Reyes-Gavilan’s still seems surprised at it all. “It is mind-boggling that places like this exist for people.”

Woodridge Library (1801 Hamlin Street NE) re-opens to the public on September 28 at 10:30 a.m. with a ribbon cutting attended by Mayor Muriel Bowser, DCPL Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan, and Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. A grand opening celebration will take place on October 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.