Location: Medora, United States

Architects: Snøhetta

Area: approximately 8,919 m²

Year: 2026

Lead Architects and Designers: Craig Dykers, Michelle Delk, Matthew McMahon, Aaron Dorf, Kurt Marsh, Dan Marty and Prince Langley

Architect of Record: JLG Architects

Landscape Architect of Record: Confluence

Construction Management: JE Dunn

Photography: Nic Lehoux

Design Features: The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library stands in Medora, North Dakota, beside Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Roosevelt regarded his time in the Badlands as formative to both his public life and conservation ethic. Guided by the idea that “the library is the landscape,” Snøhetta embeds the approximately 8,919 m² cultural institution into a 93-acre prairie butte, allowing architecture, exhibition and terrain to share one narrative.

Two principal volumes accommodate exhibitions and public programmes beneath an accessible living roof of roughly 11,241 m². A nearly mile-long elevated boardwalk remains broadly level while the land rises and falls around it, linking outdoor classrooms, overlooks, reflective spaces and a suspended net. Visitors may arrive on foot, by bicycle, horseback or car, turning entry from a single doorway into a gradual encounter with the scale of the Badlands.

Inside, movement is choreographed between light and shadow. Deep skylights draw daylight into galleries and public rooms, while large windows frame the direction of Elkhorn Ranch and the surrounding public lands. Exhibition and civic spaces remain distinct but are gathered beneath one timber roof; the low exterior recedes into the horizon, while lifted beams and light wells redirect attention toward structure, sky and distance.

The material palette grows from place and construction. A mass-timber-and-steel hybrid spans the roof, while rammed-earth walls made with local soil reproduce the horizontal strata of the Badlands. Reclaimed regional timber and low-carbon concrete complete the sequence. Assemblies avoid harmful Red List chemicals where possible, are detailed for disassembly and accept weathering as part of their long life.

The project pursues full Living Building certification through a framework of zero energy, zero water, zero emissions and zero waste. More than 200 native species have been cultivated across the roof and restored site, connecting with 3,000 acres of nearby National Grasslands. Grazing, haying and prescribed burns enter both land management and public programming, making ecological restoration a visible part of the institution rather than a concealed technical claim.

Design Team: Snøhetta began its practice with the competition-winning Bibliotheca Alexandrina proposal in 1989 and has since developed a transdisciplinary approach spanning architecture, landscape, interiors, product design and art. Its public and cultural work includes the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion, Beijing City Library and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion.

For the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Snøhetta served as project lead, design architect, landscape architect and interior designer. Craig Dykers, Michelle Delk, Matthew McMahon, Aaron Dorf, Kurt Marsh, Dan Marty and Prince Langley led the work. Architecture, prairie restoration, interior sequence and material systems were developed together around the visitor’s relationship with the Badlands.

JLG Architects served as architect of record, Confluence as landscape architect of record, and JE Dunn led construction management. Resource Environmental Solutions and North Dakota State University collaborated on the Native Plant Project, extending the design partnership into ecological research and long-term stewardship of the 93-acre site.