Library Buildings around the World

The building has a load bearing Hornton stone façade, with timber sliding windows by Rationel. Access to the windows is via a
galvanised metal balcony which has also been designed as a sun-shade to the south façade. The structure is steelwork, (which in most
areas is exposed) with Omnia concrete planks. The roof is supported on a vast glue-lam beam, and comprises solid timber panels,
lined with birch. At the top of the roof is a large rooflight, allowing ventilation and daylight to the large central workspaces. Two
voids in the second floor allow daylight to penetrate to the first floor workspace.
Summary of Timetable and Programme.
Before our involvement, the feasibility study proposed a two phased building, over several years, to quite a high budget. We were
taken on board and had two weeks to convince the client to do a single building, from the start, and contain the phasing within the
finishes inside the building. This approach produced enormous cost and time savings. We were appointed in February 2004. We
were out to tender by October 2004 (single stage design and build) having obtained planning and listed building consent, including
demolition of the lean-to buildings, and were on site by April 2005, with completion in November 2006. The programme was
influenced by the expenditure of SRIF funding which had already been obtained for the project.
Budget Constraints
The project was designed to a very tight budget. The project was Design and Build, and we were novated to the Contractor, but also
kept a watching brief for the Client. We have tried very hard to make the building appear good quality, and have had to constantly
change materials internally and come up with new, cheaper suggestions. We have used simple materials, and clung onto one or two
very strong ideas, comewhat may – imaginative lighting, the big timber roof, carefully sourced and researched stone. The windows
are timber instead of steel, as a result of value engineering, but they are very good quality. The landscape is minimalist as there was a
minimal budget. It is a very good value building. (Pringle)
Oldham Library and Lifelong Learning Centre, Manchester - UK 2004-2005
6,300 sqm, £ 12.000.000
Awards:
Better Public Building Award 2007
British Construction Industry Awards (Shortlisting) 2007
Literature:
Oldham Library - High-density race warning: Building Design 03/11/2006
Oldham Library - Oldham's Double Bill: Building Design 09/06/2006
The Library and Lifelong Learning Centre is the second phase of the new Cultural Quarter in Oldham, and is situated adjacent to
the first phase – Gallery Oldham. The approach to the Learning Centre is through the double height entrance foyer of the Gallery.
Increased in size the foyer forms an access hub for the Gallery, Library and Lifelong Learning Centre at the very heart of the
Quarter. The building form peels away from the linear gallery orientating it towards the broad expanse of distant moorlands to the
South and East. Views from the second floor Galleries toward the South are maintained and enhanced by a sedum roof to the library
and a ‘blade of light’ – a north-light that reflects the sky and extends along the length of the new building. Public areas are located
across two open floors, with exposed concrete soffits articulated by linear slots cut though the floor and roof slabs, allowing the
stairs, lifts and daylight to penetrate through and link the floors together. Terracotta panels, exposed concrete and cast glass – the
palette of materials used on Gallery Oldham – has been used again to present an articulated single building. A performance space
enclosed within an oval form and clad in copper, is dramatically expressed against the regular texture of the southern elevation,
providing a strong image when viewed from the by-pass and the southern wards of Oldham. As with Gallery Oldham the use of free
energy has been maximised where possible – daylight, thermal mass, natural ventilation, and solar shading are all employed to
minimise running costs while at the same time introducing a feeling of wellbeing. The building was procured via a Private Finance
Initiative with Kier and Barclays Bank forming the SPV. (Pringle)
Graves Art Gallery and Central Library, Sheffield – UK 2001
4,000 sqm, £ 11.500.000
The practice carried out a masterplan for the redevelopment of the Graves Art Gallery and Central Library in the centre of
Sheffield. The aim was to reconfigure the building to enlarge the gallery accommodation and make it more accessible to the public,
as well as redeveloping the library and the community theatre, to suit modern requirements. The challenge was to make the building
accessible, as it is located on a sloping site with very little space in front of the entrances, all of which are addressed by a steep flight
of steps. The building is close to the Millennium Galleries and Winter Garden, and one of the objectives was to provide a common
identity for both the Millennium Galleries and The Graves Art Gallery, to create an identifiable arts quarter in the city centre,
linked to nearby theatres and the Winter Garden. The masterplan was explored through a series of option studies, which covered all
possible approaches from a relatively simple refurbishment to large-scale redevelopment and extension. (Pringle)
Qinlan & Francis Terry LLP, Dedham, Essex – UK
http://www.qftarchitects.com
Libaries:
Downing College, Maitland Robinson Library, Cambridge – UK 1990 – 1992
This new library is built on the principle that the books are stacked in the centre of the plan with the carrells arranged under the
windows. Thus a square building is formed with a central octagonal staircase providing access between the basement, ground and
first floors. With the college's commitment to classicism from Wilkins onwards and the strong emphasis on the Greek Revival, it was
felt appropriate that this building should form a 'capriccio' of the outstanding monuments of the Acropolis. For that reason the
Portico of Augustus forms the main entrance and south portico of the building; the Choragic monument of Thrasyllus forms the
East Portico; and the Tower of the Winds forms the octagonal cupola, which has a Greek Corinthian capital at the apex with a
weathervane. The Greek names for the eight winds are inscribed on each of the eight faces of the octagon.
The whole building is made in natural Ketton stone in loadbearing construction. Each of the metopae has been carved to symbolise
tripos subjects that are taught in the college.
The entrance doorcase is a combination of Greek work with splayed architraves combined with Michelangelo's doorcase at the
Medici Chapel, Florence where the reduction in width of the architrave and fine detail foreshadow the change in taste from the
Roman to Greek detail. (Qinlan)
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