Library Buildings around the World

With a capacity of 1600 students the school offers among others several subjects within service and technique. The 2,700 m2
sports centre is located in connection with the school and is designed by Henning Larsen Architects in 2006. The school
opened in 2007. (Henning)
Universitätsbibliothek Rostock – Germany 2002 – 2004
Client: Ministry of Finance Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Areal: 13,000 m2, First prize in invited competition, 2000
Located on a significant, elevated site on the corner of Albert Einsteinstrasse and Ringstrasse, the library will mark the
entrance and stand out as a landmark of the new university. The L-shaped building creates a new, active space in the city
interacting with the students’ café opposite. The individual study spaces are located in a narrow L-shaped reading gallery
towards the entrance square, separated from the shelf areas by a crevice of light that extends up four storeys. A large
organically shaped carving in the lower floor – leading from porch to counter – defines the flow in the entrance area of the
building. A light steel staircase in the interior crevice of light runs up through the storeys. The library is a developing project
focussing on energy saving measures. Refrigeration of the building is embedded in the concrete floors and connected to a
geothermal facility. (Henning)
Stadsbiblioteket Malmö – Sweden 1994 – 19999
Client: Malmö Municipality, Gross floor area: 14,056 m2, Year of construction: 1994 – 199, Type of assignment: First prize
in international competition
Awards:
Diplom fra “tyckomhus.nu” 2001
Kasper Salin Priset, Sverige 1997
Årets Stadsbyggnadspris 1997
The extension of the historic Malmö City Library has provided the city with an open, welcoming and modern library
interacting with nature and the surrounding city.
The new library building is based on – and is diagonally detached from – the square shape of the existing library. The two
buildings together constituting Malmö City Library are uniquely situated towards the park where the large illuminated
spaces open up to the sculptural trees and the reflecting lake in the park.
Malmö City Library comprises three detached volumes: The old library building; the new, central entrance building and the
new library building – all united by glass corridors. In the old library, the original glass-covered atrium has been restored.
Daylight plays an essential role in all building spaces and is experienced as a stimulating and varying element during all
hours of the day. The entrance space is lit up from above along the walls while the central space fills the entire room with
light flowing down and filtered through the storeys. Here, the sky constitutes the view. The large library space functions as a
kind of ‘calendar of light’ where the light is coloured by the leaves of the large trees in the park. (Henning)
Bibliothèque Centrale – Médiathèque Municipale de Tarentaize Saint Étienne – France 1993
Cooperation with Cabinet Stéphanois Arch
6.000 m²
La municipalité décide au début des années 1990 de construire un nouveau bâtiment pour abriter la bibliothèque principale
de la ville, jusqu'alors installée dans un hôtel particulier inadapté, l'Hôtel Colcombet.
Cette réalisation s'inscrit à l'époque dans une politique culturelle municipale active tendant à compenser les difficultés
économiques que traverse le bassin stéphanois, et arrive ainsi peu après celle du Musée d'Art Moderne (1989). Le site choisi
pour sa construction, Tarentaize à l'ouest de la ville, n'est pas non plus anodin et procède de la volonté des édiles de
revitaliser ce quartier paupérisé et marginalisé.
L'architecte danois associé avec le cabinet stéphanois Arch, dessine un bâtiment carré et sobre, organisé sur 3 niveaux :
- Le sous-sol accueille le magasin, climatisé pour la conservation des films, et les garages.
- Le rez-de-chaussée se compose d'un grand espace central où sont entreposés les ouvrages et les autres supports, et autour
duquel sont disposés des salles de lecture et d'étude, de consultation audiovisuelle, de projection ainsi que de conférence.
- Le premier étage abrite les bureaux de l'administration ainsi que des locaux techniques disposés autour d'une galerie qui
surplombe l'espace central du RDC.
La bibliothèque a intégré la prestigieuse cinémathèque de Saint-Etienne, créée en 1922, et propose par conséquent une offre
vidéo très développée.
Au plan technologique, le bâtiment est alors particulièrement innovant et bénéficie d'un système complexe de régulation
(sécurité, énergie, communication) et de diagnostic de pannes. Enfin, il est au centre d'un réseau informatique mettant en
commun les ressources de la plupart des établissements documentaires de la ville et qui, dans un second temps, est même
connecté au réseau de la Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon. (http://www.pss-archi.eu)
KHR Arkitekter (Gunnar Krohn, E. Hartvig Rasmussen), Copenhagen - Denmark
http://www.khr.dk
Libraries :
Ørestad School & Library – Denmark 2012
Client: Copenhagen Council, Budget: 290 mio. Dkr.
The City and exploriation. Intimacy and inspiration.
It is KHRs vision for the new school, after school care and public library in Ørestad City.
The building has hanging gardens, bay windows and small piazzas like any inspiring medieval town. Visitors are invited to explore a
myriad of small alleys and terraces on the outside of the building, which is made public by a stairway running from the bottom to the
top floor
Multitude of meeting places
A multitude of meeting places outside and inside ensures the building’s status as Ørestad’s new social and cultural focal point, where
people in all ages and from all backgrounds can meet. Inside a large stairway connects the school with the library in the ground floor
and creates a dynamic exchange between the two institutions. The stairs run through the eight floors of the school and connects a
sequence of overlapping rooms of different size, décor, inflow of light and orientation.
The building has many different types of rooms, which opens up for different types of learning situations from work in groups;
individual tutoring to learning by doing in work shops. The floors and the connection between them are designed as streets in a
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