BDES1020 'Continuous City' <Christine Looyschelder>

Abstract

Retreating from the city center one stumbles across this modest community library which houses not only a great selection of books appropriate for the local people, but also a separate series of private study rooms as well as an adjoining bookstore. Made for the people, it provides gathering spaces, learning areas and a large computer facility. There is a requirement to produce a calm space within the library walls, which has been closely considered in the organization of small spaces. With two exterior skins on the private study tower and the adjoining bookstore, these places remain isolated from the surrounding passers-by, allowing the interior space to exist in peace, vital for efficient study and the security required for store purposes. The confining nature of the external circulation throughout the streets which encase these buildings is reversed for the main library, through which the circulation intrudes following the central axes. In this fashion it becomes the entry to the building, undulating up to the farthest heights of the building. This focus on upwards motion calls upon those entering to explore this space rather than remaining on the compressed ground floor. By drawing the public up to the higher floors they too feel removed from the presence of public congestion out on the streets. As the design of the building concentrates on the removal of circulation elements from the interior space, this needed to continue in the structural composition and cladding materials. The walls that link directly to wall faces are deemed supporting walls whilst the floors virtually cantilever off this base, with minimal additional supports to maintain a secure structure. In doing this the structure enclosing the circulation passages remains in wireframe, continuing the notion of a progression into the privacy of the interior. This is particularly clear in the two smaller buildings in which the circulation wraps around two faces causing the structure to remain separate from the main construction of the building. The design of the structure remains prominent as the glass cladding sits within the matrix of the supports rather than simply overlaid. There is an additional layer of material that works in two forms; a wall texture and a cladding in its own right. The textural pattern connects the circulation paths throughout the series of buildings in an abstract way via the use of material. The void in the main building is a dramatic statement lined with a red shading material, which then diverges off between the two adjoining buildings and continues along the exterior facing walls making prominent the staircases that run within these areas. Through a series of construction choices this design allows the public to escape to this relaxed environment whilst also providing a necessary function.