Dokk1 - as the object is called - unites the library itself and the center of municipal services. It was part of a large-scale Urban Mediaspace initiative to transform the Aarhus port area into a modern urban space. The total cost of the project is estimated at 280 million euros: it includes a change in the existing road scheme on the embankment, an automatic parking for 1000 cars and an electric train station under the library building, bicycle routes with parking for 450 spaces and open public spaces near the water. In addition to schmidt hammer lassen, the landscape bureau Arkitekt Kristine Jensens Tegnestue and the engineering company Alectia are participating in the project.
The 35,600 m2 library is located in an open area at the mouth of the Aarhus River. Its complex, multi-layered and polygonal shape is devoid of traditional facades, which allows it to showcase the building favorably from all points of view. The lower tier hides the entrance to the parking lot, railway station, technical and administrative premises. It forms additional public areas around a deep, completely transparent core. Four wide staircases leading to this second level closely connect the library premises, separated only by transparent glass, with the surroundings. The upper, wider "cake" of this "cake" partially protects the bypass gallery from the vagaries of the weather.
The architects chose expanded metal sheets as the main facade material. The metal mesh, in their opinion, firstly, makes the surfaces textured and permeable, and secondly, stylistically connects the building with the surrounding port, with its ships and cranes.
Unobtrusively continuing the theme in the interior, the architects also used lattice metal panels in the decoration. But the central element organizing the interior space is a wide five-level podium staircase leading to the children's area upstairs. It not only connects the two floors assigned to the library, but also forms areas for exhibitions, games, master classes, reading and various events. The uppermost, fourth tier is occupied by the premises of the municipality and small office areas for rent. In several places it is cut through by skylights, which form pleasant communication zones on the third floor. Exactly the same openings connect the two-level space of the library itself.
