The Sud-Sauvage Media Library is located in the city of Saint-Joseph in the south of Reunion Island, an overseas department of France in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.
The challenge for the architects was to turn the public library - in the digital age, it seems, a dying type of institution - into an important community center, a point of attraction for citizens. According to Co-Architectes, the popularity of their work is obvious: in the first year of work, 5,000 people out of 37,000 living in Saint-Joseph signed up there, and the total number of visitors was about 250,000. However, the authors of the project admit that from the very beginning they worked together with the library staff and its director, so they were well aware of the needs of both workers and readers.
The media library is located slightly north of the city center, next to the future pedestrian zone. It was possible to create a small square in front of the new building, which corresponds to the scheme of a typical local house, which the architects were guided by: a courtyard, a high building with galleries on the facade, low buildings behind it - along the perimeter of the site and in its middle.
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zooming 1/3 Media Library Sud-Sauvage Photo © Hervé Douris
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zooming 2/3 Media Library Sud-Sauvage Photo © Hervé Douris
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zooming 3/3 Media Library Sud-Sauvage Photo © Hervé Douris
The main volume of the library is sheathed with wooden sun screens. With their organic nature, they resemble a bunch of vetiver grass, an important agricultural crop on the island. Essential oil is obtained from its roots, which is then exported. The base is lined with rough natural stone - basalt typical of Reunion, because the island itself is of volcanic origin.
On the upper floors there is an "adult" library, on the first tier there is an exhibition hall, a zone of novelties, and a multimedia department. At the back there is a labyrinthine building of the department for children and youth, along the northern border of the site there is an auxiliary building. The parking lot is hidden under the trees.
The favorable trade wind tropical climate allowed the architects to do without air conditioners: the main volume of the building and its atrium play the role of the "wind tower", while through ventilation is provided there and in the rest of the complex. The directions of winds from the sea and from the center of the island, the angle of incidence of sun rays in winter and summer are taken into account. In addition to wooden screens, the buildings are protected from the sun by verandas, awnings, and landscaping. Most of the materials are reused.
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zooming 1/3 Media Library Sud-Sauvage Photo © Hervé Douris
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zooming 2/3 Media Library Sud-Sauvage Photo © Hervé Douris
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zooming 3/3 Media Library Sud-Sauvage Photo © Stéphane Repentin
