Library Buildings around the World

Ireland
A & D (Architecture & Design) Wejchert & Partners Architects, Dublin – Ireland
http://www.wejchert.ie
Libraries:
Library WIT Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford – Ireland 2000
Awards:
Commended at OPUS building of the year, Award at Plan Expo 2001
Minister for Environments Sustainability Award 2001
5.500 m².
Main reading space is arranged in multi-storey atrium facing north, while smaller spaces are designated for
seminar, staff and store rooms. The building is designed for maximum energy efficency as a “green building”. The
use of passive environmental control is a strong theme, and the design maximises the use of thermal mass/inertia, high
insulation levels, natural light and ventilation systems, renewable energy systems and ambient energy. (A & D)
architecture53seven Architects, Portlaoige - Ireland
http://www.architecture53seven.com
Libraries:
Tullow Civic Centre and Library, Carlow County, Tullow – Ireland 2005
Local Authority, DEHLG, 400 m², € 1.744.000
Tullow Library is located on the banks of the River Slaney. The floor area has been raised to avoid the possibility of flooding. A
riverside promenade runs alongside the building. The library is located on the ground floor of a two-storey building. The building
exhibits the following elements of sustainable design: tinted glazing; 1st floor cantilevered overhang to shade the library interior
from summer sun; Brise-soleil to reduce solar glare during winter months; double height void in reading area and reception desk
area which admits maximum natural light. Library Details Local Authority Name Carlow County Council
Date Opened 16 September 2005, Type of Building Purpose-built library, Size (m2) 400 , Cost of Library €1,744,501
Funding Sources Local Authority, DEHLG, Sustainability / Future Proofing Natural/passive heating & cooling
Shading/overshadowing, Solar access ( http://www.librarybuildings.ie )
de Blacam und Meagher Architects, Dublin – Ireland
http://www.deblacamandmeagher.com
Libraries:
Dublin City University, Dr. Tony Ryan Academy of Entrepreneurship, Dublin – Ireland 2009
The Tony Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship was set up in conjunction with Dublin City University as a centre to train
entrepreneurs in management skills and advanced technology.
The Academy is conceived as a building for the 21st Century, environmentally friendly building with minimal C02 emissions.
The building uses natural ventilation, deep overhangs and adjustable and automatic shading to reduce the requirements for
artificial lighting and air conditioning, dramatically reducing the energy consumption of the building, in stark contrast to a
"typical" building of this nature.
The building is architecturally concerned as a great glazed hall, elevated above the landscape to which are attached the lecture
theatres in the form of tall titanium shells. The open planned Great Glazed Hall was conceived as a great meeting space, in
which students could "gather to develop ideas" and "build networks", while engaging with mentors, coaches and experts. The
education process of the Academy was conceived by the Client to be generated by the students, as much as the Curriculum and
teachers. This glazed hall contains reading and meeting areas, seminar rooms, library, offices and a canteen that opens out onto
a timber deck. The large glazed areas are shaded from the sun by deep overhangs and automatic shading blinds, resulting in a
very pleasant interior regardless of the weather.
The titanium clad lecture theaters sit to the west of the campus. They are set in a water pool, which assists in dramatically
reflecting sunlight off the titanium shells. By design, the height and volume of the lecture halls create a stack ventilation system,
which alleviates the need for air conditioning. Air is cooled as it is drawn over the water pool to ventilate the Academy. The
theatres buck the black box tradition of the lecture hall and are bathed in indirect daylight from rooflights. (de Blacam)
Library, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway – Ireland 2009
The redevelopment of existing building as a college of Art and Design and School of Music, which includes a newly built Library
and Sculpture Workshop. The School of Art of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology is located in a former seminary built for
the Redemptorist Order in the 1940's.
The primary design concern was to create a coherent lucid plan from an institutional building characterised by a shallow depth of
plan, high ceilings and long somber corridors. This would then enable each department of art school to communicate and react
easily with one another.
The introduction of a three-storey circular void and a white limestone floor into the central entrance hall formalised the space to
create an appropriate sense of arrival. Tall, glazed and pivot doors introduced light into the adjacent institutional corridors whose
forbidding quality was improved by new light maple floor-boarding. A new five-storey library was located at the building's eastern
corner. Constructed of oak a winding staircase links all floors and focuses a strongly unified space. Readers in the study carrels of
the upper galleries can admire the distant views of Galway Bay. (de Blacam)
1