Unfolding the full potential of both building and site, The Book Hill creates a coherent functional and programmatic composition that ensures a clear internal organization while merging the urban fabric, Asplund’s library and hill top into a unified entity – city, landscape and library.

The Book Hill was short-listed amongst 1176 proposals.

The Site

‘Today, the site is characterized by the unfulfilled potentials of the inaccessible Observatory Hill and the programmatically dysfunctional Public Library.

The Observatory Hill is a green island perforating the urban fabric and is one of the city’s highest natural points with outstanding views of the Stockholm roofscape. But the steepness of the hill renders the hilltop inaccessible and under-used.

At the foot of the hill stands the iconic Asplund library and its three detached annexes which programmatically seperates the library into four unconnected buildings.

The New Stockholm Library

Instead of keeping the impractical annexes, we suggest an extension that programmatically brings The New Stockholm Public Library into one.

We propose to organize the new extension as a continuous boulevard starting from street level, then rising to the Asplund Rotunda and finally linking it to the Observatory Hill top, thus creating a transition between landscape and urban fabric.

The New Stockholm Public Library will be an urban mediascape where landscape and building, interior and exterior, old and new merges into one single entity.

The Media Boulevard and Short Cut

Fiction and scientific literature is divided into two. Asplunds Library will continue to house the entire fiction collection while the Book Hill is designed to hold the scientific literature.

In the Book Hill, the media is placed in a continuous order – like a string of pearls running through the entire building – forming the Media Boulevard and establishing a crystal clear organization to give the visitor an overview and a feeling of togetherness.

The Media Boulevard is like an internal winding road shaped by the contours of the building. It is conceived as a system of gently sloping 1:20 ramps where media, staff and visitors flow freely through the entire library creating an environment of meetings, knowledge and information.

Walking along the Media Boulevard, the visitor will encounter an unfolding of various spatial and programmatic experiences as one passes by the Main Entrance, Auditorium Foyer, Library Café Institute of Children’s Books, Learning Zone and finally the Observatory Restaurant. All of it leaves an impression of a diverse and lively Public Library.

The Media Boulevard is intersected by a Short Cut. The Short Cut is the spine of the Book Hill and is the axis connecting the main entrance directly to the Observatory Hill. The Short Cut is the rational route through the library – minimizing the distance from A to B.

The winding Media Boulevard and the rational Short Cut creates a combination of clear organization of media and efficient layout of movement.

The Roof Promenade

The roof of the Book Hill is a Roof Promenade with various library activities along the facade on one side and a view of the city on the other. One will feel the presence of the library during the entire walk along the promenade as activities from the Library Café, Learning Zone, Readers Garden and Observatory Restaurant inhabits the promenade. Passer-bys are invited in for spontaneous making The New Stockholm Public Library a part of the daily city life and an integral part of the city 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.’

Program: Library – extension of Stockholm Public Library
Size: 17.000 m2 (9.000 m2 existing building)
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Type: Open 2-stage competition – short-listed amongst 1176 proposals.
Year: 2007
Status: Settled – fourth prize

More pictures: www.ja-ja.dk.