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UCA Library
UCA Library
Farnham, United Kingdom
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UCA Library
Farnham, United Kingdom
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2013
SIZE
10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft
BUDGET
$1M - 5M
Photos
The Elaine Thomas Library transforms the interior of an existing library building from the 1990’s, on the Farnham Campus of the University for the Creative Arts. It is a key element within a strategic University plan to bring together library and student services, providing students with a single ‘Gateway’ to University facilities and services. The project was completed in 11 months.
The ground floor of the building is opened up to offer a new public face for the building, with a glazed frontage to the campus. Its character echoes that of contemporary art space, allowing it to host occasional exhibitions, alongside more day-to-day usage for informal group working and Gateway enquiries. A new research centre and archive occupies one end of this floor, presenting these activities as a key part of the institution, accessible to students at all levels.
The upper two floors house the principal spaces of the library, alongside offices for staff. The project takes advantage of the scale of the existing spaces to create a variety of different study environments.
These allow for both individual and group working, creating atmospheres that feel appropriate for a specialist art and design institution whilst addressing, through their scale and materiality, the existing building’s inherent acoustic problems.
Rather than the more usual rows of book stacks, these floors are arranged as a series of differently sized, book lined rooms, a strategy that maximises the building’s sense of light and openness. The ply shelving enclosing these ‘book rooms’ offers a warmth and intimacy that recalls more traditional library spaces, creating a comfortable, human scale that invites inhabitation and counterpoints the tougher elements and finishes of the existing building. Henri Labrouste’s Bibliotech Ste Genevieve, 1842, was a key reference in determining the relationship between these furniture elements and the existing curve of the steel ceiling. Felt faced infill panels provide acoustic absorbency in both the main spaces and smaller rooms, whilst bespoke trestle tables and Eames chairs introduce something of the creativity of the studio environment.
The ground floor of the building is opened up to offer a new public face for the building, with a glazed frontage to the campus. Its character echoes that of contemporary art space, allowing it to host occasional exhibitions, alongside more day-to-day usage for informal group working and Gateway enquiries. A new research centre and archive occupies one end of this floor, presenting these activities as a key part of the institution, accessible to students at all levels.
The upper two floors house the principal spaces of the library, alongside offices for staff. The project takes advantage of the scale of the existing spaces to create a variety of different study environments.
These allow for both individual and group working, creating atmospheres that feel appropriate for a specialist art and design institution whilst addressing, through their scale and materiality, the existing building’s inherent acoustic problems.
Rather than the more usual rows of book stacks, these floors are arranged as a series of differently sized, book lined rooms, a strategy that maximises the building’s sense of light and openness. The ply shelving enclosing these ‘book rooms’ offers a warmth and intimacy that recalls more traditional library spaces, creating a comfortable, human scale that invites inhabitation and counterpoints the tougher elements and finishes of the existing building. Henri Labrouste’s Bibliotech Ste Genevieve, 1842, was a key reference in determining the relationship between these furniture elements and the existing curve of the steel ceiling. Felt faced infill panels provide acoustic absorbency in both the main spaces and smaller rooms, whilst bespoke trestle tables and Eames chairs introduce something of the creativity of the studio environment.
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