Speikenisse is a new town that emerged from the village of the same name in the last 40 years. It does not have a clear focus, and the MVRDV project is intended to correct this deficiency. The area next to the medieval church was chosen as the site for the new construction. Other historical buildings of the Speikenisse, alas, demolished in the 1960s, are reminiscent of their outlines on the pavement.
The library, also serving as a community center, forms an ensemble with a social housing complex designed by the same architects. They are formally united by gable floors referring to the tradition and the widespread use of the most "Dutch" building material - brick. Not only are the walls of residential buildings made of it: the spaces between the buildings are paved with it, and even the doors in the library itself are made of bricks.
Boekenberg, "Book Mountain" has a pyramidal shape. Its foundation contains an eco-education center, chess club, auditorium, meeting rooms, offices and shops. The book depository itself occupies the upper half of the "pyramid", with a cafe on top. The trail along the bookshelves made from recycled flower pots (a nod to Speikenissa's agricultural past) is 480 meters long. The shelves, which are not accessible to visitors, contain the library archive.
The facades and floors of the library are glass on a wooden frame. Sunlight can damage books, but the architects calculated that they simply would not live up to this moment: library books in the Netherlands have time to wear out in 4 years. The advantage of transparency is the extensive use of natural light, as well as the visibility of books from the outside. Thus, "Book Mountain" serves as an advertisement for reading, which is important in a city where 10% of the population is illiterate.
There is no air conditioning in the library: in summer, natural ventilation is used in combination with sun screens, in winter, a comfortable climate is maintained with warm floors and double-glazed facades.
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