Library Buildings around the World

authors and members of the general public to whom it is open free. The RHS thought that was not room to house the Lindley
Library in their existing building and it would have to bemoved out of London to the RHS gardens at Wisley in Surrey.
MJP MacCormac Jamieson Prichard Architects, London – UK
http://www.mjparchitects.co.uk
Libraries:
The Learning Grid, University of Warwick, Coventry – UK 2004
MJP worked closely with the University¹s Library Service to create an innovative Student Resource Centre for independent learning
within an existing building. The design had to be modern and inspiring as well as functional to attract students. The facility is
designed to provide a relaxed environment that encourages students to work in whatever way suits them best alone or in groups; at
any time of the day; at desks or on sofas. There are also facilities for students with specific needs. A wide range of electronic
equipment is provided to support new approaches to learning, with areas for brainstorming, presentation practice and multimedia
video editing, as well as pc terminals and access to books and printed material. MJP used a range of screens and furniture to create a
materials are used to create a lively environment - and as a reaction against other facilities which provide dreary rows of computer
desks. A new perforated steel staircase was inserted into the building to form a physical and visual link between the two floors of the
Learning Grid. It forms a contemporary feature which deliberately contrasts with the institutional character of the existing building.
The facility is open to an atrium which incorporates new catering facilities and is used for social events by staff and students. MJP
are currently involved in the installation of a new work by the artist David Batchelor in the atrium. (MJP)
Wolfson Building. The Science Museum, London – UK 2003
€ 5.580.000
The Wellcome Wolfson Building forms part of the second phase of our competition winning scheme for the Wellcome Wing
extension to the Science Museum. Set behind Grade 1 listed railings, facing on to Queen's Gate and within the Queen's Gate
conservation area, the building bridges the divide between the institutional museum buildings at one end of the site and the redbrick
and stucco residential Victorian terraces of Queen's Gate at the other. The building houses the Dana Centre, a new public facility for
the presentation and discussion of topical scientific issues using traditional and new media. A double height café, 150-seat flexible
auditorium, 50-seat seminar room and exhibition area are distributed over the first three floors. These are connected by a dramatic
triple height space which faces over a new landscaped courtyard. Above this is low-energy office space, with a two-bedroom
penthouse flat and private office for the Centre's director. The building's projecting precast concrete features echo the stone bays
and porticos of the terrace to its north, while the red stock brick used on the Queen's Gate façade is a perfect match with the exisitng
terrace. The south elevation forms a new gable to end the terrace and formally addresses the courtyard to the south. Viewed from
the courtyard, the building takes on a very different character as it responds to the institutional context of this end of the site. The
glass, aluminium and concrete of the Dana Centre predominate over brick, and the auditorium, expressed as a suspended concrete
box, is set below a four-storey aluminium brise soleil bookended by two brightly coloured and glazed stairways. The interior features
exposed concrete columns and ceiling. This is combined with an air displacement system, effective reduction of solar gain and good
natural lighting to reduce energy use and carbon emissions by 20%. Provision is also made for grey water recycling. ŒCool, elegant,
stylish . . . the Wellcome Wolfson Bulding, offers a much needed break with the past and injects vibrancy and contemporary style
into an area dominated by the ideals of the 19th century. Buildings don't come much cleverer than that.' Building, October 2004
(MJP)
Millennium Place, Durham – UK 2001
€ 19.000.000
Our project for Durham Council transforms a derelict site on the Durham peninsula, a historic area of the city surrounded on three
sides by the River Wear. Our project acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of this area and was the starting point for the council's
Lottery funded Durham Millennium City Project. It is a good example of Lottery-assisted urban regeneration as it provides much
needed community facilities on a brownfield site. Our urban design concept was for a new civic terrace riding the ridge that leads up
to the UNESCO World Heritage Site containing Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral. This elevated terrace has views over the
Wear valley and links to the riverside walk around the wooded site. Our new Clayport Library and council offices re-complete the
existing building frontages, severed by the 1960's road cutting. At the heart of our new development is the new Gala theatre, cinema
and conference complex which sits in pride of place, visible from the main vehicle approaches into the city. The building's have
become Durham's new principal cultural venue. To meet the city's business plan and its community brief, the building has air
palletted seating allowing the auditorium to switch quickly between theatre, cabaret, exhibition and banquet modes. The building is
also fully equipped to broadcasting standards. The rooftop function rooms and foyer bars have spectacular views over the Wear
valley. The 150 seat IMAX-style cinema is buried beneath Millennium Place, taking advantage of the dramatic change in level across
the site. The cinema shows widescreen tourist oriented films for the tourist information centre by day and commercial films in the
evening. Our development also provides a new pedestrian route between the new riverside hotel and car parks on the opposite bank
of the River Wear and the peninsula. Once the adjoining commercial development is complete, Millennium Place will link to the
river walk and footbridge to complete the vision for the area. 'The spectacular and contemporary treatment of the Claypath site
forms a dramatic and complementary foil to the historic fabric of the old city, symbolising its cultural regeneration.' Durham City
Council. (MJP)
Ruskin Library, Lancaster University, Lancaster – UK 1997
Our building for Lancaster University houses the Whitehouse Collection of works of art and writings by John Ruskin. Set at the
entrance to the University campus, the library is a symbolic gateway to the University. It forms an escarpment at the west boundary
of the University, and offers a dramatic view towards the sea. The building accommodates archive storage (known as the treasury),
together with a reading room, curatorial offices and public gallery spaces. A double height entrance gives access to the gallery
spaces, which are connected through the treasury by a glass bridge. Metaphor and allusion were used in the planning and detail
design, with the sequence of spaces being deliberately church-like; the entrance, treasury and reading room respectively represent
the narthex, choir and sanctuary of a church. The linear arrangement of the building meets the need for security, with the reading
room remote from the entrance and only accessible through secure doors controlled by the curatorial staff. The construction of the
treasury as a Œbuilding within a building¹ physically isolates the collection, creating the stable atmosphere and environment
necessary for conservation of the archive without the need for air conditioning. The library¹s massive construction and the inclusion
of a basement provide security and environmental inertia to the reading room, the foyer and public galleries above. (MJP)
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