Library information desk
library of the Faculty of Architecture of the TU Delft Library
library of the Faculty of Architecture of the TU Delft Library
creative way to re-purpose old or obsolete textbooks
The large lawn roof is tilted up at one corner like a sheet of paper held by a single point. The hollow beneath houses the library. A cone, the symbol of technology, pierces the library and the landscape, affixing them like a pushpin. With a grass-covered roof, high-performance glazed facades and subterranean storage for heating and cooling, the building reaches high standards of sustainability. The entrance affords a glimpse of the sunken book stacks for rare and irreplaceable books. Inside the towering suspended bookcase for the less fragile books astonishes the visitor. The deep blue background gives the wall-to-wall racks the feel of a theatre set. The columns in the central hall are not only structural but also provide lighting and heating. The sloping metal ceiling continues without interruption across all spaces above a floor the colour of Saharan sand.
... A huge cone pierces the green expanse, articulated by a 1500 mm wide necklace of glazing in the plane of the roof. Supported on splayed steel columns, the cone houses four levels of traditional study spaces connected by a helical stair. Within the cone, a central void provides daylight from a glazed roof to the internal reading spaces. The apex of the cone is formed by an open frame. Extending forty metres above grade and floodlit at night, the cone acts as a beacon on the campus day and night.
... Designated as the national library for technical and natural sciences, the facility is also connected electronically to major libraries around the world. The library thus satisfies both electronic needs and the sensory pleasures derived from being able to touch and smell the books.
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