Library Buildings around the World

Hall. Installation costs were shared between the City Council and the College. A Service Level Agreement covers all operational
arrangements including opening hours and access. The financial benefits of working in partnership have enabled a doubling of
opening hours. (http://www.machester.gov.uk)
North city library & 6 th form, Harpurhey, Manchester – UK 2006
5077 m², ₤ 7.100.000
Awards:
Silver for Best Public Building Roses Design Awards 2006
The facility was intended to provide appropriate and qualitative accommodation to enable delivery of key public services within an
areas scheduled for regeneration. A dramatic four-storey atrium at the entrance provides an immediate visual link to all areas of the
building with clear views out of the community garden and urban streetscape. There has been a threefold increase library visits in
the community along with the exceeded expectation of enrollment figures.(Walker)
The project aimed to deliver a landmark building to challenge engrained negative perceptions of the area: a new Sixth Form College
and Public Library, located on the site of a Victorian Grade 2 Listed former Public Baths in Harpurhey, two miles from central
Manchester, in the second most deprived ward in the country, scheduled for regeneration.
The building offers education and community facilities for the 21st century, providing both dedicated learning zones and shared
public spaces. The building layout is open, simple and designed to allow passive supervision where education and social engagement
can take place in an attractive, safe and accessible place.
The four storey building, with dramatic atrium at the entrance providing an immediate visual link to all areas of the building and
with clear views outside, uses a flat slab concrete frame structure which allows great versatility to room layouts and building
services, with the ability to easily reconfigure spaces in response to changing curriculum uses and learning styles. The physical
quality of the learning environment uses a robust and high quality palette of materials with low maintenance requirements.
The design is pioneering in its use of integrated sustainable features aimed to reduce C02 emissions. These include photovoltaic
panels, both roof mounted and as south facing cladding, roof mounted active/solar arrays, rainwater harvesting, thermal mass from
the exposed concrete frame which, together with natural ventilation and bms control, enables night time cooling for summer months
and a heat store during winter. The buildings external fabric is highly insulated.
Awards: BREEAM, RIBA Building Feature, MCC Libraries Renewal Flagship, International Green Apple Award, Design
Benchmark for £1b + BSF schemes.
RIBA LSC National Design Excellence Award. Judges` comment extract: `The key strategic decision to combine the college with the
public library …… has effectively created a new building type` (http://www.bestbuildings.co.uk)
Forum Library, Wythenhawe, Manchester – UK 1999 – 2002
The original Forum Library opened in 1971 as part of the Forum complex featuring a leisure centre, theatre, main hall and meeting
rooms. By the mid-1990s, however, it needed substantial refurbishment. Following a major refurbishment the new Forum is now
well regarded and well used by local people, boasting adult education and Learndirect, gym and swimming pool, health centre,
public hall, nursery and cafe, as well as one of the city’s largest and busiest libraries. The Forum Library was completely upgraded
with a new layout, new stock and comfortable areas for customers to relax. The library was the city’s first Access Point, enabling
online or freephone access to council services. There is a large music and film library, meeting rooms, plus long and short stay
computers for public use. The first floor is intended for learning, both students and the wider public. It features a Learndirect centre
and a wide range of reference and information resources. The library also features some specialisms, supporting local economic and
healthrelated priorities for Wythenshawe. These include a Health Information Point and a Macmillan Cancer Support Service and
Information Points for businesses and inventors. (http://www.machester.gov.uk)
Michael Wilford & Partners, Hartfield, East Sussex – UK
http://www.michaelwilford.com
Libraries:
Central Campus, Library Rice University, Hoston,TX – USA 2000
Client: Rice University, Architects: Michael Wilford + MUMA, Total area: 277,000 gross sq.ft, Project Budget: $125mill
Consultants Associate Architect: Kendall Heaton Associates, Houston, Library Consultant: Shepley Bullfinch Richardson
Abbott Architects, Boston, Structural Engineer: Haynes Whaley Associates, Houston, Project Management: Rice University
General Contractor: Linbeck Construction Corporation, Houston
Located at the centre of Rice University's historic campus, the new Central Campus Library seeks to respond to both the
sensitive nature of the site and the programmatic demands of a teaching and research facility for the 21st Century. The
proposal makes reference to the original Cram masterplan for the campus conceived in 1910 and reinstates the avenues of
live oak trees. An elliptical form identifies the axial heart of the campus and mediates between the formal Academic Court
and the informal wooded Great Court. This form houses an "immersion concourse" where the public aspects of the library
are located. From here academics and public can gather and orientate themselves. Above, two linear bars, typical of the
campus's building massing, sit and house the book stacks, providing readers with daylit study space within the tree canopy.
Science Library. University of California, Irvine, Los Angeles – UK 1994
Project Information & Credits: Irvine Science Library, University of California, Irvine, Los Angeles, USA 1988 - 94
Client: University of California, Architect: Michael Wilford & Partners, Total area: 174,000 sq.m, Cost: $27mill
Consultants Associate Architects: BI Group/L Paul Zajfen, California, Library Consultants: Nancy McAdams
Structural & MEP Engineers: Ove Arup & Partners, London & California, Cost Consultant; Adamson Associates,
California Landscape Consultant: Burton & Spitz, California
Awards:
American Institute of Architects Honour Award, Orange County, 1990
ALA/AIA Award of excellence for Library Architecture,1995
Literature:
A&U,10 (301), 1995, pp. 16-33
The Science Library is positioned astride the axis of the Bio-Science Mall and forms a portal to the future Bio-Sciences
quadrangle. Passage is encouraged through the building via a sequence of expanding and contracting spaces towards its
entrance. The circular plan form creates a courtyard space from where the building is entered at a point equidisant from
each department. Accommodation is organised on 6 levels around the courtyard and includes bookstack and reader areas,
study rooms, a reference and periodicals library, public and technical services departments, a learning resource centre, a
61