Library Buildings around the World

Austin-Smith:Lord has developed a design which provides a two-storey 'Podium Hub' on the lower levels with a cafe and meeting
area for discussion and debate, and, on the higher levels, a quieter and acoustically separated series of focussed study spaces. There
also exists an opportunity to create an outdoor study environment in the shape of a dedicated roof terrace area. The shared vision of
both the University and the architects is to create an exemplary building with a design informed and inspired by the best
contemporary educational facilities. The centre is on target to achieve a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating, reflecting the University's high
standards and aspirations for sustainable design. (http://www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk)
Avril Roberts LRC
This award-winning computer, multi-media facility and library facility was the first of its kind in the UK. Located in the commercial
heart of Liverpool, this second learning resource centre for the University serves the departments of Engineering, Science and
Education, Health and Social Sciences. The design, an evolution on the original learning resource centre, offers a greater mix of
open and quiet zones for both group and private study. It provides the focal point of the Mount Pleasant Campus and links to other
parts of the university. This building, with a coffee shop and bookshop and adaptable spaces that are also used for meetings and
exhibitions, has been designed with the flexibility to incorporate future change. (Austin)
Glasgow Celedonian University, William Harley Library Extension, Glasgow – UK 1997
3.600 m². ₤ 4.550.000
Library & information centre, 200 seater group study room, electronic floor with 168 wired places range of small study rooms,
seminar room, training room, vision impaired centre, bookshop. Entrance via 3 floor glass atrium with staircase rising through
atrium, glass brick wall at back of foyer, curved counter, atrium (to be garden) between new and old buildings, variety of different
sizes of student group study rooms. (http://www.designinglibraries.org.uk)
John Moores University, Avril Robarts Learning Resource Centre, Liverpool – UK 1994
Awards:
1994 RIBA Award for Architecture
1996 Civic Trust Award.
The brief for the first of the new LRCs – the Aldham Robarts Centre was led by the Head of Library Services, Don Revill, and a
senior architecture tutor, Geoff Hackman. Both shared a rare mix of vision and pragmatism. Significantly, Don’s approach was
revolutionary, if not ‘heretical’ in library circles. At the time books were kept in libraries where silence reigned and computers were
accessed at computing centres. The brief for the Aldham Roberts Centre was based on learning not reading; a place where books
and computers were ‘commingled’, where group study was recognised and accommodated as part of project-based learning, where
the librarian’s first priority was coaching users, not keeping books. This enabled new technologies to be introduced and in a
profession where silence in libraries was mandatory, re-focused on serious study. A decade and half later, such activity is considered
normal but it was still revolutionary thinking at the time. Geoff Hackman was desperate for the new institution to commit to
excellence in its architectural commissions, after some early forays into developer led sub PoMo projects. The fundamental learning
which has secured the ultimate success of this building lies in the singular engagement between the client and the designers at the
outset of the project. Unencumbered by conflicting management concerns and committed unswervingly to realise a vision, to satisfy
a perceived need with excellence, the building which was both affordable on completion and in use transcends simple operational
requirements by developing a facility which is in every sense sustainable. The Aldham Robarts Learning Resource Centre was
adopted as an icon of contemporary architecture when Liverpool assembled its bid for 1999 City of Architecture status in the period
1993–94. (Austin)
BDP – Building Design Partnership Ltd, Manchester – UK
http://www.bdp.com
Libraries:
University and Public Library, -The Hive - Worcester – UK 2012
Opening a new library in a year when more than 100 across the country have closed their doors due to public funding cuts has been
both a challenging and heartening experience. When that library is jointly funded and run by a university and local authority, and is
therefore designed to cater equally for the needs and expectations of students, academics and members of the general public, the
stakes on getting it right are very high. But since the Hive was opened in Worcester by the Queen three months ago as Europe's first
fully integrated university and local authority library, membership has grown, with just a few hundred joining between July and
September 2011 to around 8,500 during the same period this year, and its gold roofs have already become an iconic sight in the city.
It has taken eight years and £60m to reach this point. The project began in 2004 when the University of Worcester was planning a
city centre campus and Worcestershire County Council was looking for more space for its public library. We discovered then that
both shared a commitment to high quality education, social inclusion and cultural values, as well as to excellent customer service and
information.
While university and public libraries may go about things in different ways, their visions and missions are quite similar. Public
libraries started originally as a force for education and social good, as well as for community and social inclusion, while the earliest
universities were groups of scholars congregating around libraries.
Now, students will often work in a library rather than isolated in their rooms because they want the shared experience and learning
community a library offers, and when students move to a town or city to study they become part of that town community. At the
University of Worcester about half of our students are mature students, who often have families and lives within the city and region,
so we wanted to build a facility for every stage of their lives.
The idea of the university and local authority joining forces caught the imagination of Higher Education Funding Council for
England (Hefce), which offered £5m in strategic development funding, and another £5m as an interest free repayable loan. The rest
came from a joint private finance initiative bid between the council and university, with an additional £7m from the regional
development agency, because the development was on a brownfield site and promised to deliver jobs and business support.
While at the beginning the focus was very much on what the university and local authority had in common, there were some
challenges in developing services and policies that suited all library users. Students needed to feel it was their university library and
that they could get the books they needed for their course, while the public needed spaces and services suitable for them.
As the Hive houses one of the largest children's libraries in the country, some university staff were worried about working with
children around. Public library staff working meanwhile needed to know what specific needs students might have. Behaviour
management was another issue, with rules introduced making sure all mobile phones stayed on silent.
To resolve these issues while retaining the advantages of a joint library, the Hive has been designed to include a mixture of public
and private spaces with different functions. As well as communal browsing and reading areas, a cafe, and council customer services
centre, there are meeting rooms and hundreds of private study areas.
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