Library Buildings around the World

Gareth Hoskins Architects, Glasgow – UK
http://www.garethhoskinsarchitects.co.uk
Libraries:
The Bridge Arts Centre, Easterhouse, Glasgow – UK
Client: Glasgow City Council. Value: £ 10m.
Awards:
2007 RIBA National Awards Winner
2007 RIBA Regional Awards Winner
2007 BCI Regeneration Awards Winner
In 2007 Gareth Hoskins Architects won an open competition to design a new arts venue in Easterhouse for Glasgow City Council.
The Bridge Arts Centre nestles between the existing community swimming pool and the John Wheatly College, to form Easterhouse
Cultural Campus, and provides a naturally ventilated auditorium space, rehearsal workshops, recording suites, education and
gallery spaces, café and community library. Funded by a range of sources including local government, Scottish Arts Council Lottery
Fund and European Regional Development Fund, the project challenges the notion of a traditional “arts” building. It aims to create
a new focus for people within one of Glasgow´s peripheral housing estates, to engage with and take part in the arts, and also
endeavours to stimulate regeneration of the surrounding area. The building form, dictated by the site, is that of a simple rectangular
timber box, housing the auditorium, adjacent to a double height triangular volume containing the library and learning spaces.
(Gareth)
GHK Architects (Gilmore Hankey Kirke Ltd.), London – UK
http://www.ghkarchitects.co.uk
Libraries:
Library St. Aubyn, Plymouth – UK 2011
The city council is hoping to double the number of books available for readers in Devonport under plans for a new library in St
Aubyn's Church. They promise that the new-look library, which will replace the current one housed in the Guildhall basement, will
boost interest in reading. Devonport Regeneration Community Partnership and Plymouth City Council have come up with an
imaginative solution that will give the community a new library as well as help protect the grade II listed Georgian church. Cabinet
member for leisure, Cllr Glenn Jordan, said: "It is early days, but we are looking at between 15,000 to 18,000 books for this new
library – more than double the amount of books we currently have for Devonport. "We will also have DVDs and CDs on offer. We
recognise that people use the Internet as a key source of information, which is why we plan to have 14 computers. We think this gives
us the best of both worlds – preserving an old building by giving it is a new lease of life." As part of a wider study of some of
Devonport's key heritage buildings, the council and the DRCP commissioned a feasibility study for the long-term use of the church,
which has experienced falling congregation numbers, but is a listed building and a fine and rare example of its type. The study
revealed that given the church' wishes to keep a space for worship alongside any alternative uses, a potential dual use could be a
library. Devonport Regeneration Community Partnership has signalled its intentions by allocating £1.125 million to the project.
Plymouth architects Gilmore Hankey Kirke have begun consulting on proposals which include creating spaces for meetings and
exhibitions within the church. The Rev David Nixon, parish priest of St Aubyn, said: "The church should be part of the regeneration
of the community around it, and I hope it will signal the beginning of more engagement with the community and rebirth of the
church." Building work could start early next year, and preparation would include applying for listed building consent as well as
finalising designs. (http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk)
Zaha Hadid Architects, London – UK
http://www.zaha-hadid.com
Libraries:
Middle East Centre, St. Antony´s College, Oxford – UK 2006 – 2014
Client: St. Antony´s College, University of Oxford, 1.200 m². New library, research centre, archive
The Middle East Centre at. St. Antony´s College, University, Oxford serves as a centre for the entire University. At its core is a
spezialized library and extensive archive. We were commissioned to design a scheme to expand the cente by using a gsrden plot that
links existing premises – complying with the college´s clearly defined vision for future growth and adding formal coherence to the
existing quad.
Our intention was to create a less restretive research environment and improve links between the centre´s academic and social
functions. The strong physical constraints imposed by the scale and position of the site demanded a bold and distinctive solution.
In response, we conceived the new connecting building as a series of plateaus and territories, in which different academic, research
and socialfunctions are ´signposted´ by the character of the interior space. Form is driven by a series of tensions points spread on a
synthetic landscape that blends built and natural elements. The new structure deforms and to this environment, revealing paths and
flows. The new ´brdge` connects existing elements at different levels – its suspension allowing more public aspects to infiltrate the
building.
Bridge form and public spaces are linked by a central staircase, connecting to the centre´s main academic components – with
contrasts in scalevand depth highlighted by the convex or concave form of the reading spaces. Elevating the bridge allows for a more
diverse and complex articulation between interior and exterior.
The sweeping form of the bridge is mirrored in the forecourt area where a curved frameless glass façade reveals the public plateau,
frames the main access point and cuts across a sunken area, suitable for private refelction. (Hadid)
General Library and Resource Center University of Seville – Spain in design
Groundbreaking 2009, Height 25.0 meter / 82 feet, Value 22.0 million euros
The General Library and the Investigative Resources Centre of the University of Seville is conceived as a continuous volume
which emerges from the extension of the park. The project expands itself longitudinally to the given site, and progressively
rises from a soft material into a stretched sculptural object. Located on the edge of ‘el Prado de San Sebastián’ park, the
160m long floating library is lifted off the ground on top of three structures which extends to a very shallow plinth; allowing
the introduction of landscape at the entrance level, and producing terraces that in turn define the public spaces. This strategy
of having a transitory area that attracts and invites the users is mainly to promote cultural, educational and entertaining
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