Library Buildings around the World

sphere, the other a cube, and you realise how well FAT has emphasised the spatial qualities inherent to the building’s upper-ground
floor. The original building would not have felt this big before. Thornton Heath Library could be FAT’s most successful building in
terms of interior space. I wonder, what would Pevsner have to say? Regardless, a new edition of his Surrey guide beckons.
(http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk)
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios LLP, Bath, London – UK
http://www.fcbstudios.com
Libraries:
The Hive, Worcester – UK 2012
£ 50.000.000
Feilden Clegg Bradley are appointed by Galliford Try to develop a bid proposal to RIBA stage D for this new facility for the
University of Worcestershire and Worcester County Council. On a riverside site in Worcester city centre, this will be a highly
sustainable 11,000m2 building with a unique three dimensional form. It provides an integrated academic and public library, the first
purpose designed joint-use facility in the UK, which will serve both the University of Worcester and the general public. It also
includes a county archive and local history centre and a local authority ‘Hub’ providing frontline services for local residents. The
development also provides retail space and high quality public realm connecting key levels in the city centre. The gold shingled form
draws inspiration from both the historic kilns of the Royal Worcester works and the undulating ridgeline of the Malvern Hills. The
structure incorporates solid laminated timber roof cones, the forms of which have been generated to optimise day lighting and
natural ventilation throughout the building. Water from the nearby River Severn is used to provide cooling. (Feilden)
Worcestershire County Council and the University of Worcester worked together to create a new multi-million pound city centre
library, history and customer centre for students and the public. The two organisations, along with the support of Worcester City
Council and Advantage West Midlands, realised the opportunity of creating a combined facility for the whole community to use, and
the project has developed into one of the most exciting new libraries in Europe.
In October 2004 the County Council and the University met to discuss the merits of a joint library. This model is unique and has
never been undertaken before in this Country. This meeting marked the start of a new thriving Partnership between the University
and the County Council.
Galliford Try were announced in 2009 as the preferred contractor to design, build, finance and operate the building, following
approval by the University Board of Governors and the County Council Cabinet.
Bath-based architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios designed The Hive. The innovative design won the international Bentley Be
Inspired Innovation in Generative Design and was shortlisted for Best Designed Project and for Best Local Government Project
Team in the Public-Private Finance awards.
Building work began on a derelict site in the city centre in 2010 and the doors opened to the public for the first time on 2 July 2012.
The Hive was officially opened on 11 July 2012 by Her Majesty the Queen.
In 2004, the public library service had identified that the original Worcester City library building was no longer fit for purpose and
needed to modernise to raise the level of service required by library users of the future. At the same time, the University was
exploring the development of a new City Campus and was actively seeking to improve its learning resources. The Council and the
University therefore came together and forged a partnership that led to the creation of The Hive.
By bringing services and facilities together under one roof and with the investment and support of the government, The Hive aims to
encourage even more people to join the public library and explore what it has to offer, which is so much more than just a library.
We hope that what we will do is help people see the connection between the university and the city. It is now possible to walk on a
pedestrian route from the cathedral through the city centre and into the library, then on to the city campus.
Anne Hannaford
University of Worcester Director of Information and Learning Services
The Hive is an extension of the city and will provide a tangible link to the university – the city centre is on one side of The Hive and
the university’s new city centre campus is on the other. Bringing the two together will cement the already strong working
relationship between Council and University.
The name ‘The Hive’ was chosen to represent the purposeful activity, and sense of community which the development will help to
create. It is also a reflection of the building’s appearance, with its bold, distinctive golden ‘honeycomb’ cladding, which will mark it
out as a physical as well as a cultural landmark for Worcester. (http://www.thehiveworcester.org)
Clore Learning Centre. Hampton Court Palace, Borough of Richmond upon Thames, London - UK 2006
The Clore Learning Centre is a new resource for Hampton Court Palace, comprising a single storey reception building and the
refurbishment of the 17 th century Barrack Block to provide education facilities for visitors to the Palace. This is the most significant
building to be built at Hampton Court for more than 150 years and presented a rare opportunity to integrate a new building within
such a significant historic landscape. Hampton Court Palace is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and development of this scheme
required continuous and careful dialogue with English Heritage. The project demanded a thorough understanding of the historic site
with a particularly sensitive approach to the design of this major new building which was funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation.
The new single-storey steel-framed building provides teaching and exhibition facilities to help visitor groups interpret the history of
Hampton Court Palace. As a key centre for learning, Hampton Court attracts over 50,000 school and adult learner visitors a year,
and the aim is to double this to 100,000. The Learning Centre is oriented to create a new external courtyard and includes multifunctional
teaching and exhibition spaces configured under a pitched tile roof. Two tall roof ventilation stacks provide contemporary
references to the many famous chimneys that adorn Hampton Court Palace itself. Use of traditional handmade bricks and roof tiles
further place the building within its context. The significance of the Barrack Block is respected through the setting of the Reception
Building and a more dynamic entrance to the Palace is created between the new and existing built forms and landscape elements. A
new planting scheme takes inspiration from the site’s former use as a kitchen garden and the new building serves as a backdrop
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