Set back from the road by a landscaped plaza and fountain, the City Hall has a copper-clad barrel vault joining the two halves of the long, two-story brick building. At the east and west ends, the vault breaks the horizontal facades with tall, arched brick end walls like simplified pediments.
Defining the west side of the plaza, the Richardson Public Library (1970, JPJ Architects; 900 Civic Center Drive) is a complex Brutalist scheme with a heavy overhanging second story. Copper-clad hipped roofs are segmented by exposed concrete rafters that are extensions of columns in the walls below.