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The park

The park is the public space par excellence. People can settle in the place they want, free to choose the activities they want to practice. The park is both a place of freedom, urbanity, politeness and amenity.

We imagine the library on this model of public space: a space with clear limits, with its pavilions, its spaces for relaxation and games.

Our choice was to distribute the program on a single level, to place the library in a building on the ground floor and to consider the entire park as a library. 

A single level facilitates access for all audiences, young, old, healthy and disabled. It is also the least intimidating built and urban device.

A single level also facilitates the exchange and communication between the different parts of the program, the exploration of new media or older ones. This horizontality allows an absence of hierarchy between book and digital.

A single level, because accessibility seems to us to be the very principle of a contemporary library.

 

Urban landscape

The site is made up of several buildings, of different periods, shapes and uses. We do not want to add to this existing urban ensemble, a new arrogant form. We prefer to adopt an attitude that aims to unify this whole. Our goal with this project is to improve on what is already there.

We also believe that a public building must be identified for what it is, and therefore cannot have the same volumetry as an office building.

The singularity of the library will be its expanse: a sheet of glass, close to the ground, silent and calm, reflecting the surrounding buildings

 

Interior organization

The plan is organized in a rectangle 150m long by 85m wide. Inside this rectangle, the different parts of the program are distributed according to three types of space: opaque boxes, transparent boxes and open spaces generated by the position of the boxes - space "between two" -

The principle is to have a plan that very precisely defines the spaces, while remaining very flexible to allow future changes to the project. Only the opaque boxes will remain "hard points" because built with a lot of technical equipment.

 

Boxes

The boxes accommodate activities that require a certain intimacy or that generate noise. The cinema, the multi-function room or certain functions of the reception hall are in opaque boxes. Customer service, meeting rooms or the room dedicated to children are in transparent boxes.

 

The spaces "in between"

The space generated by the boxes creates an open space but well identified: the reception hall is at the center of the plan, it is limited by the boxes of the cinema and the multi-function room, that of the services (toilets, changing rooms, lockers), and by the old railway shed. The central position of the hall allows a link with all the activities of the library.

Three collection spaces are also created in this way. They are located in quiet places: two spaces along the North facade, and one along the South facade.

The exhibition space, located near the main entrance, also allows different types of presentation, with adequate ceiling equipment.

The games room, studios, and "fab lab" are the only public elements of the program to be located in the basement. To maintain continuity of activity with the space on the ground floor, a large opening is created in the floor, bleachers descend from the ground floor level to the basement. These bleachers, in addition to allowing access to the basement, are also and above all a space where the public can sit, read or work in a less formal way.

 

old and new

The old railway shed is integrated inside the new building. This hangar will become one of the elements of the library and will thus find its new use. In this way, we want to establish a close relationship with the old with the new.

It is also an exterior element that becomes an interior object: a brick building placed on a parquet floor. Within its walls, we propose to install the café and part of the restaurant.

 

Inside Outside

Natural light, the park with its vegetation and the surroundings are the main elements of this architecture.Before being a building, the library is first and foremost a public space, so being inside also means being outside. interior of an exterior. It is this sense of urban “living room” that we seek.

Three physical devices can contribute to this feeling:

• The fully glazed facades reveal the park and its surroundings from any space in the library

• Three patios, which can be covered during cold periods, allow natural light and vegetation to enter the heart of the reading and work spaces.

• The ceiling, through a device for filtering solar rays, allows plenty of daylight to enter and naturally illuminates most spaces.

 

Envelope

The entire envelope, roof and facades are made of glass.

The roof is made of a double layer with a thermal gap in between. The outer layer is made of glazed panels. These panels have a variable degree of transparency, from the most opaque to 50% transparency. Part of the roof is made up of photovoltaic panels for a total area of 4000m2.

The roof is used as a thermal machine, thermal regulator and energy provider. During the winter, the air heated by the sun is kept in the void between the two layers and reused for the treatment of indoor air. In summer, the hot air is evacuated by the opening of the flaps located on the East and West facades. All the air treatment device is also integrated in the double layer of the ceiling with its total height of 1.40m.

The inner layer of the roof is made of a translucent, insulating material. In some parts of the library, acoustically more sensitive, adequate treatment will be added

The vertical facades are completely glazed. Their low heights minimize solar gains from the west facade. The necessarily opaque parts of facades will be treated by printing

 

Material

Wood and glass are the main materials. The wood for the floors and the walls of the boxes. Glass for all the other boxes, with textile curtains for some when darkness is necessary.

Steel is used for the roof structure and poles.

The ceiling is made of a translucent and insulating material.

 

This ground-floor building configuration avoids the use of very heavy mobility devices such as escalators or elevators, which consume energy. It also saves on the main structure and floors. This principle is also and above all very flexible for future changes in the organization of the library.

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