Library Buildings around the World

for a number of commissioned artistic installations. The sustainable design achieves low energy consumption through the combined
use of high insulation, natural ventilation and daylighting, assisted by harnessing the structure itself to create a zero U-Value wall.
(Feilden)
Oxstalls Campus, University of Gloucestershire, Cloucester – UK 2002
Awards:
RIBA Award 2003
Civic Trust Award – National Award for Sustainability 2003
We began work with the University of Gloucestershire in 1998 with a commission to proudce a masterplan for a new campus on a 15
acre brownfield site on the edge of the city centre. Its educational hub comprises a Learning Centre and Sports Science Faculty and
student housing for 175 is provided by a series of four storey linked villas. The Learning Centre provides space for 300 computer
workstations, a series of flexible teaching spaces and a lecture theatre for 200 people. The Sports Science Building contains
laboratories and teaching spaces and a large sports hall for teaching, training and competitive events. Issues of sustainability were
prioritised in the design of the new buildings. The ‘waveform’ roof of the Sports Science Building admits north light to reduce
artificial lighting loads and its south-facing roof slopes are clad with photovoltaic cells The energy-efficient systems were part-funded
by the EUBART programme and the DTI’s research-focussed ETSU programme. The scheme also utilises a ground source heat
pump, termodeck ventilation and high levels of daylighting, unusual in most sports facilities. The next phase was student
accommodation, arranged as flats over four storeys, providing 175 student rooms in a series of 'villas'. In 2005 we were appointed to
design a new teaching centre alongside the learning centre, providing additional space for teaching and offices and large, open-plan
spaces for informal group learning. The third phase of expansion was also begun in 2005; this was an extension of the Sports Science
Building to provide a dedicated space suitable for national level badminton, along with a fitness suite arranged over two linked
storeys. A ground source heat pump provides for space heating within this part of the campus. In 2003 the scheme won an RIBA
Award and the Civic Trust’s Sustainability Award in recognition of its strong environmental agenda. “Higher Education buildings
are tight budgets as we all know. Here ‘the money’ has been expertly designed with, giving the right emphasis in the right place.”
(Feilden)
Foster + Partners, London – United Kingdom
http://www.fosterandpartners.com
Libraries:
Imperial College, Sir Alexander Flemming Building, London - UK 1994 – 1998
Client: Imperial College and South Kensington Millennium, Consultants: Waterman Partnership, Davis Langdon & Everest, Claude
Engle, Per Arnoldi, Research Facilities Design, Sandy Brown and Associates
The forum widens as it rises, forming open-plan terraces for research students on the second and fourth floors, where the perimeter
is lined with study carrels. Sculpted rooflights introduce a combination of north light for optimum working conditions and controlled
sunlight to bring sparkle into the building. Fully glazed at its northern end - the site's only open aspect - the forum looks onto the
Queen's Lawn and Queen's Tower, the last fragment of the 1890s campus.
Modular laboratories are designed to be used by any microbiologist and are flexible enough to allow changes in use or to adapt to
new techniques. Alongside these are specialist facilities, which need to be close to the building's service risers. These risers are
configured at the edges of the site, leaving the central space free and flexible. This is essential to allow for the rapid pace of change in
the research world. Even as the building was being constructed, the requirements of its users were changing and the design was able
to adapt to their evolving needs.
The practice has also completed the Flowers Building, which provides bioscience laboratories for interdisciplinary research at
postgraduate level. (Foster)
Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, Cambridge - UK 1990 – 1995
Client: University of Cambridge, Consultants: Anthony Hunt Associates, Davis Langdon and Everest, YRM Engineers, Cambridge
Landscape Architects, Arup, Emmer Pfenniger Partner AG, Halcrow Fox, Sandy Brown Associates, University of Cambridge
Estates Mangement and Building
Cambridge University has the largest law school in Britain, with 800 undergraduates and 200 postgraduate students. The Law
Faculty is a place with traditions, but it is also forward-looking. The Faculty building provides state-of-the-art facilities for teaching
and research, comprising the Squire Law Library, five auditoria, seminar rooms, common rooms and administrative offices.
The building sits at the heart of the Sidgwick site, the focus of humanities education at Cambridge, close to the Institute of
Criminology and University Library. Its neighbours include James Stirling's History Faculty and it is surrounded by lawns and
mature trees. This low, green garden context is the essence of Cambridge. The challenge, therefore, was to preserve the natural
setting and to minimise the building's apparent size. The rectangular plan is cut on the diagonal in response to the geometry of the
History Faculty and pedestrian routes across the site. It has a relatively small footprint, yet provides 8,500 square metres of
accommodation without exceeding four storeys. This was achieved by burying the auditoria below ground, while the curving glass of
the north facade helps the building to recede visually.
A full-height atrium forms the focus of the building. It links the different levels visually, creating a feeling of spaciousness, and draws
daylight into the lower floors. Natural lighting is used to dramatic effect, especially in the Library, which occupies the upper three
terraced floors and enjoys uninterrupted views of the gardens. The curving north facade is entirely glazed; the south, west and east
facades are part glazed and incorporate devices to exclude solar gain and glare.
The building is highly energy-efficient. Its partially buried structure and exposed concrete frame combine to give it high thermal
mass, making it slow to respond to outside temperature changes. Together with high insulation values, this allows the use of
mechanically assisted natural ventilation throughout - only the lecture theatres require seasonal cooling. A lighting management
system reduces energy consumption, while heat recovery coils, linked to the air extract, reclaim waste heat.
Interestingly, the building's environmental performance was put to the test during its first summer, one of the hottest on record.
Happily, it performed extremely well. (Foster)
Cranfield University Library, Cranfield - UK 1989 – 1992
Client: University of Cranfield, Consultants: Arup, Davis Langdon & Everest, Roger Preston and Partners, George Sexton
Associates
Cranfield University was founded in 1946 as a school for aeronautical engineers. Today it is one of Britain's leading technical
education and research establishments, incorporating a wide range of postgraduate studies, and is a major foreign currency earner
for research contracts.
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