Library Buildings around the World

C.F.Mǿller Architects, Aarhus – Denmark
http://www.cfmoller.com
Libraries:
Aarhus University, Building 1351, Library Extension, Aarhus – Denmark 2011
Client: Undervisningsministeriet Byggedirektoratet
An extension of the Library of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Aarhus University, created the need for a design solution that could
cause the original and the new to appear as a single continuous space.
In addition to the choice of surfaces, colours, furniture and lighting, the task also involved the design of custom fixtures, including
service counters, a lending desk with integrated self-service lending scanner, IT-workplaces integrated into standing tables, and
shelves with integrated multimedia screens.
The brief was to integrate modern multimedia and IT solutions into the decor, so the library offers opportunities for both cooperation
and interchange between the students and for individual peace and quiet for concentration. The decor thus offers many
opportunities for standing, sitting or hanging out on the more informal, upholstered lounge furniture, while the loose fixtures with
small tables, light chairs and movable partitions enable the decor to be adapted to many different types of study.
The green shades of the materials in the chairs and screen walls and the linoleum surfaces of the custom decor form an interplay
with the raw, yellow brick of the walls. In combination with shelving and tabletop edges in golden ash, the premises present a bright
and modern appearance without abandoning the workmanlike and matter-of-fact expression that characterises Aarhus University.
(Moller)
National Maritime Museum (NMM), Library, London – UK 2011
On Thursday 14th July, the polished Sammy Ofer Wing of the National Maritime Museum (NMM) in London opened to the
public. Ruefully described as ‘one of the most challenging sites conceivable’ by Julian Weyer, Partner at C. F. Møller and
lead architect on the scheme, the NMM is a Grade I listed building cupped in a leafy UNESCO World Heritage Site. This
lengthy project was ignited five years ago with a ‘worthy but perhaps rather unexciting’ brief to extend the existing
Museum’s archive and retrieval system, and was spurred on by the appointment of Dr Kevin Fewster as Director of the
NMM and a very generous donation of £20m by international shipping magnate and philanthropist Sammy Ofer. Without
this charitable gift the extension could not have been realised. Weyer truthfully admitted: “What we are facing here is a
completely impossible dilemma for an architect’s point of view because it emerged from the process this was an opportunity
to give the museum a new face towards the park, a new entrance, and at the same time it became clear that to make this a
successful addition to such a strong building complex it needed to be subordinated.” The constraints imposed by the site’s
heritage status forced the extension underground, with a cavernous space 10m deep, 35m wide and 55m long excavated from
beneath the main foyer for temporary exhibitions. Mark Hammond of executive architects Purcell Miller Tritton relates the
oddities uncovered during this invasive dig: “We have come across something like twenty bodies of seamen – some of which
were reinterred at the end of the site, others needed to be examined and removed to be reburied elsewhere – the remains of a
Tudor road, which we always thought was going to be here, and also on this site in the Victorian era was a (heated)
swimming pool which also needed to be carefully investigated and recorded before it was removed.” Originally the sole
reason for this 1,625 sq m expansion, the Caird Library, Archive and Reading Room are a series of softly-lit study spaces
and efficient storage units which more than double the NMM’s existing library capacity and enable the majority of its
collection (the largest collection of maritime artefacts in the world) to be housed onsite. Between 2 and 3 million books,
manuscripts, charts, journals and other archival materials are now located at the NMM in an extensive storage unit that
totals almost 9 linear kilometres of shelving. Swift and simple to use, the efficient system enables academics and visitors to the
NMM to peruse the collection at their leisure in a quiet environment delicately illuminated by wide panels of glass.
Internally the exhibition spaces are artificially lit, with the permanent exhibition space – entitled the Voyagers Gallery –
located directly opposite the main entranceway and encapsulating a myriad of treasures enlightening visitors on the lives of
those who lived and died on the seas. A cascading platform which runs the length of this room is illuminated with scores of
naval-inspired expressions which enliven the static plane and give it the illusion of waves in motion. An adjacent Compass
Lounge encourages visitors to explore the NMM’s archives through interactive display boards, using touch-sensitive
navigation tools to scan an impressive array of maps, charts, diagrams, artefacts, and oceanic paintings. On crossing the
NMM’s newly inaugurated threshold (which is now to act as the main entranceway to the entire museum) and entering the
light-rich foyer, what grabs one’s attention is a gaping void in the floor. A great glass elevator and similarly modern staircase
lead the way to a basement exhibition space marked for temporary displays, currently housing an intriguing installation by
United Visual Artists and Cape Farewell entitled High Arctic which is well worth a visit. Visitors are invited to take a UV
torch into the darkened room to examine thousands of creamy columns hidden in the blackness, each representing a real
glacier in Svalbard. Despite the lack of natural light within the prime exhibition spaces, the design team have gone to great
lengths to encourage the sun’s rays to penetrate the extension’s walls. A handful of protruding light bays have been inserted
above the central foyer to draw light in directly above the initial depression into the lower temporary gallery, and great walls
of glass at the front of the extension allow the weak London sunshine to infiltrate the space. The effect is surprisingly efficient
yet lacks the intensity of Rick Mather Architects/BDP's neighbouring Neptune Court scheme from 1999 which illuminates an
internal covered plaza and places the remainder of the NMM’s exhibition spaces in the shade. Light was not the end goal for
the Sammy Ofer Wing however. During exhaustive early development work it was discovered that a high percentage of
visitors to the neighbouring Royal Observatory were either unable to access the adjoining NMM or were unaware that they
could do so. Landscape designers Churchman Landscape Architects have opened up the external space, introducing a broad
walkway linking the NMM to the Observatory both visually and geographically, and inserting a 160m-long stepped rill as a
subtle reference to maritime culture. As Julian Weyer divulged in an interview with WAN: “It is hard to choose a favourite
part of the new wing but what I feel is most important here is that museum and park have become one which makes a grand
difference. The archives and the creation of new exhibition space are fantastically important here but the really big change
that people will feel – even if they don’t enter all the interior changes to the museum – is that park and museum now blend
together.” And so the design team’s work is done. Sian Disson, News Editor (http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com)
Ǻlvstranden Education Centre, Hagfors – Sweden 2010
C.F. Møller Architects in collaboration with LLP Arkitekter AB
Client: Municipality of Hagfors, Size: 7000 m2 new building, 8500 m2 rebuilding, Year: 2008-2010, Competition year, 2006
Awards:
2006 1. prize in architectural competition
Ålvstrand upper-secondary college has undergone an extensive renovation of the existing buildings, and a new extension has
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