Designed by Mecanoo, the 10-storey, 35,000 m2 central library in England's second city has become the largest public library in Europe. The city, which has spent £ 193 million on the project, is counting on 10,000 visitors a day and 3.5 million a year.
The building is located in Centenary Square, the main square of the city, between the modernist drama theater (1971) and the neoclassical administrative building of Baskerville Hall (1940). A little further away is the previous "incarnation" of the Birmingham library, a building in the style of brutalism (1974): the authorities considered it too small (20% of the required area) and not "green" enough and sentenced to demolition, although this decision may have been determined by her advantageous location: in its place will be a large complex of offices and shops.
The huge new library in itself is a rather strange phenomenon, because even its architect Francine Huben, founder of the Mecanoo bureau, admits that it is completely unknown what this institution will transform into in ten years. Therefore, the layout is made as free as possible - in case of a change in function, in addition, the center of gravity is shifted from "individual lessons" to "social learning", so the new building has many public areas, the emphasis is on group lessons, and noise is not considered a hindrance.
The facade of the building is almost completely glazed: only the upper floors, where the archive is located, are sheathed in golden anodized aluminum. At the same time, the entire volume of the building is evenly closed with a "lace" of 5357 aluminum rings of black and silver colors. This controversial decorative trick has drawn criticism from CABE, the Council for Architecture and the Built Environment, which oversees the quality of projects in the UK. He refused to support Mecanoo's work, but city leaders agreed on the project anyway. Their tenacity is explained by political reasons: in the 2000s, due to the transfer of power in Birmingham from Labor to a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, the previous library project, Richard Rogers, was canceled, and officials, fearing a repetition of the situation, rushed to approve the Mecanoo plan before the next elections.
In front of the building there is a recessed amphitheater: performances and public readings will be held there; from there you can get into the underground tier of the library, where the children's book section is located. The main entrance is protected from rain and sun by the cantilever extension of 2 and 3 tiers. Inside, 40% of the available 800,000 volumes are placed in the public domain on terraced floors. These "terraces" are permeated by a series of "rotunda" atriums, which house escalators and staircases.
The library's exploited roof has a garden, while the uppermost tier, a small rotunda, is occupied by the Shakespeare Memorial Room, an authentic reading room from the Victorian city library, demolished to build a 1974 Brutalist book depository.
The purpose of the Mecanoo building is not limited to library functions: it is connected by a common foyer with the neighboring theater, and its new auditorium - "studio" is also intended for joint use. In addition, during the construction of the library, the technical part of the theater building was completely renovated - also according to the project of Mecanoo.
