From Storage to Success: How Two University Libraries Are Redefining Learning

HAMILTON LIBRARY PROJECT Reclaimed 86,000 square feet of program space for active student use and flexible learning environments

At the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, two neighboring libraries are redefining what it means to Build Less and Solve More.

Sinclair and Hamilton Libraries, once symbols of a print-based era, are now living examples of how existing buildings can evolve to serve people, performance, and place without expanding a single footprint.

Guided by MKThink’s spatial intelligence approach, these transformations prove that progress doesn’t always require building new; it begins with understanding what already exists.

When Buildings Outgrow Their Purpose

For decades, Sinclair and Hamilton Libraries anchored the academic life of the campus. They held knowledge, but over time, they began to lose meaning in terms of how students actually learned.

As digital access expanded and pedagogy evolved, the buildings remained static, dense, underused, and disconnected from the rhythm of modern university life.

UH Mānoa saw an opportunity, not a problem. Instead of building new student-serving facilities, the university chose to renew the existing libraries, honoring their legacy while aligning them with the future of learning.

Sinclair Library: Becoming the Student Success Center

SINCLAIR LIBRARY Transitioning for student success

Sinclair Library tells the story of transformation through connection. Once a quiet, collection-heavy space, it is becoming the Student Success Center, a 90,000-square-foot adaptive reuse project that reimagines the library as a campus living room.

Here, advising, tutoring, writing, wellness, and study intersect under one roof. Through MKThink’s gathering typologies, spaces are designed to shift and flex, from open commons that encourage collaboration to hybrid classrooms that support project-based learning and inclusion.

A PLACE FOR CONNECTION Adaptive multi-use campus

The change is more than architectural; it is cultural. Sinclair is becoming a place where students don’t just access information; they find belonging, confidence, and support. It serves as a scalable model for student-centered modernization across the UH System.

Hamilton Library: Making Room for Discovery

HAMILTON LIBRARY - HIGH DENSITY STORAGE SITE Stores approximately 1.4 million books

At 255,000 square feet, Hamilton Library was constructed to house over 1.4 million books. Yet, only about a quarter were actively used. Working closely with the university, MKThink developed a strategy that used technology to unlock space and potential.

The solution: an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), a high-density, climate-controlled facility adjacent to the main building. By relocating low-use volumes into this compact structure, UH Mānoa can reclaim more than 86,000 square feet for active learning, research, and collaboration.

SPACE ANALYSIS Existing vs future space allocation comparison

Through spatial analysis, benchmarking, and design modeling, MKThink is helping the university transform Hamilton from an archive into an adaptable learning platform, one that operates efficiently, supports modern study, and continues to evolve as needs change.

Efficiency, in this case, becomes deeply human: freeing space for discovery, community, and growth.

Transformation Rooted in Stewardship

Neither Sinclair nor Hamilton is adding new significant square footage. Instead, both projects embody MKThink’s principle: the most sustainable building is the one that already exists.

By integrating data, behavior, and design, MKThink helped UH Mānoa plan smarter, spend more wisely, and serve more effectively. The result: a university that uses its assets more intelligently, prioritizes people over expansion, and demonstrates how modernization can honor both history and environment.

Beyond the Library

Sinclair and Hamilton are more than facilities; they’re proof that strategy and stewardship can coexist. Together, they mark a shift in how Hawai‘i’s universities approach learning environments: from storage to success, from maintenance to meaning.

Across MKThink’s client organizations, we are expanding this systems mindset to other sectors, schools, civic facilities, and community infrastructure, helping partners across Hawai‘i and the US plan for the future with adaptability, equity, and care for place.

Because when we build less and solve more based on data, we make room for what matters most: people.

Every space holds potential. We invite you to uncover what yours can become by connecting with us following this link.