Dutch architects Mecanoo have unveiled their design for the new library in Birmingham, England.

The Library of Birmingham will be built on Centenary Square and is due to open in 2013.

From Birmingham City Council:

Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council, today unveiled the design concepts for the new £193 million Library of Birmingham by the internationally acclaimed Dutch architects Mecanoo Architecten.

The Library of Birmingham, opening in 2013, will occupy a prime site on Centenary Square, the city’s largest public square, acting as the flagship for the regeneration of Birmingham, and celebrating the ‘Global City with a Local Heart’.

Sited between the 1970s Birmingham Repertory Theater and the 1930s Baskerville House, the new Library of Birmingham will ‘bring the spoken and written word together to inspire creativity and discovery.’ The 31,000 sq meter building will provide 20% more space than the existing Birmingham Central Library and will be capable of taking up to 10,000 visitors a day.

The highly transparent glass building wrapped in a delicate metal filigree, is inspired by the rich history of Birmingham, with its tradition of craftsmanship and industry. The generous shared entrance to the Library and the REP will be sheltered below a public balcony, creating a magnificent space to watch events in the square. Above the balcony, the building volume steps away, creating a second open-air space, an elevated garden with panoramic views. At the summit, the rooftop rotunda will offer spectacular views over the entire city.

The interplay of overlapping rotundas inside the building will create constantly changing vistas as visitors ascend to the public levels, not only aiding navigation but also bringing light and ventilation throughout. The highest levels of energy efficiency will be achieved through the buffering capacity of the building mass and the atria and the use of sun shading and reflective materials.

A grand circular open-air amphitheater in front of the building will create a dramatic visual link between the Library at Lower Ground Level and Centenary Square, providing natural light and a sheltered outdoor space for staging events.

The REP will be renovated and equipped with updated back of house facilities, new workshops and new staff accommodation. In addition, brand new foyers and a new 300 seat studio theater will be created to be shared between the REP and the Library.

The new Library of Birmingham will be a library designed to function around the rapidly developing digital technologies, creating new opportunities for learning and access, and providing a social heart for Birmingham’s diverse community.

The Library of Birmingham development is a flagship project of the Big City Plan, focusing on the regeneration of the city, the most far-reaching city center development project ever undertaken in the UK. The Big City Plan will drive forward the next 20 years of development in central Birmingham to revive and open up whole areas of the city with a £17 billion investment and the aim of creating 43,000 jobs for Birmingham people.

The launch of the design concepts for the Library of Birmingham marks the start of a major program of public engagement and consultation, reaching out to Birmingham’s many communities. Construction work will start on site in 2010.

The Library of Birmingham development team is led on behalf of the City of Birmingham by Project Managers, Capita Symonds and will be built by Carillion.

Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said today: ‘Despite the global economic slowdown, demand for and confidence in Birmingham has never been higher. The new Library of Birmingham will be an iconic landmark, and a testament to the role Birmingham will play in the 21st century as a truly global city. The new designs are further evidence of our intention to attract world-class architects to work with the City, and these designs support our ambition to create a building which will bring people together, nurture creativity, allow far greater access to our cultural heritage, and act as a focal hub within the city and the region.’

Francine Houben, Founding Partner of Mecanoo Architecten, said: ‘I am inspired by the energy of this great city. I hope that the adventure of going through the building will draw many more people towards the joy of learning and reading, and even just to simply experience the pleasure of social interaction that a great public space can provide.’

Brian Gambles, Head of Birmingham Library Service said: ‘Libraries represent the memory and identity of a city. Today, as a global city, Birmingham needs its new library to encapsulate its soul, its optimism and its rich culture and to meet the demands of a progressive library service for all.’

Stuart Rogers, Executive Director, Birmingham Repertory Theater, said: ‘We are  delighted with the highly imaginative way that Mecanoo are planning to link the distinctive and much-loved Birmingham Repertory Theater with the new Library of Birmingham. The new facilities will allow both of us to work creatively together and thereby keep Birmingham’s unique cultural offer amongst the greatest in the world.’

How the architects describe their project:

‘The Library of Birmingham will occupy a key site in the heart of Birmingham. Located on the northern edge of Centenary Square, the city’s largest public square, the Library of Birmingham will stand between the 1970s Repertory Theater and the 1930s grand Baskerville House.

Three palazzos
Key to the Mecanoo design is the principle that The Birmingham Repertory Theater, the Library of Birmingham and Baskerville House will together form an ensemble of three distinct building identities fronting Centenary Square. Baskerville House, a monumental limestone building designed in1936, The Birmingham Repertory Theater (REP), a concrete clad building designed in 1964, and the Library of Birmingham, designed in 2009, a transparent glass building wrapped in a delicate metal filigree, inspired by the rich and proud history of this former industrial city with a tradition of craftsmanship. These three complementary characters will define and influence the public space of Centenary Square on a more human and intimate scale. According to Mecanoo’s proposed design, Centenary Square will change into a public space with three different realms: monumental, cultural and entertainment. These three palazzos will be a part an urban narrative experience from different periods of Birmingham’s urban history. Pedestrians will walk along what Mecanoo calls ‘the red line’, the busiest pedestrian route of the city, which connects the Bullring, New Street Station, Victoria Square, Centenary Square, through the International Conference Center towards the red and blue brick Canal district.

Canopy and Amphitheater
A large canopy announces the new shared entrance to the Library and the REP while providing shelter below and above creating a public city balcony from which to watch events on the square. Additionally, a grand circular open-air amphitheater creates a dramatic visual link between the library’s lower ground level and Centenary Square, and provides natural light and an outdoor space for staging events. Above the entrance canopy, the building volume steps respectfully away from Baskerville House. The volume reduces again higher up, this time stepping away from Cambridge Street and the REP to create space for a garden of the senses with panoramic views.

Experiential journey through rotundas
Mecanoo introduces an experiential journey through the Library. Escalators and travelators dynamically placed in the heart of the building interconnect circular voids. These overlapping rotundas create constantly changing vistas as visitors ascend to the public levels while passing by other levels such as archives storage and staff areas. The rotundas not only provide way finding through sightlines but also natural light and ventilation. The changing atmospheres provide varied and multiple opportunities for unexpected collective encounters and diverse social and learning experiences.

Circles
The circle is a leading theme for the library of Birmingham; the amphitheater, the patterned metal façade, the rotundas and the layout of the elevated gardens. As the one of the simplest and most fundamental forms known to man, the circle is understood and recognized equally by someone coming from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia or the Americas. For Mecanoo the archetypal form of the circle embodies universality and timelessness. This new building symbolizes what Birmingham is: a global city with a local heart.

Birmingham Repertory Theater
The REP, Birmingham Repertory Theater, with its unique and beautiful auditorium will be kept and renovated. The back of house area facing the City Center Gardens will be demolished and updated with state of the art accommodations for loading and unloading. New workshops, staff accommodations and a shared 300-seat theater and foyer space will be created for both the REP and the Library.

BREEAM excellent rated building
The Library of Birmingham is being designed to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating. To accomplish this, a variety of energy saving techniques will be adopted. Although the library is a transparent building it will maintain energy efficiency through the careful selection of materials and the use of mass and shading in the design detailing. At the same time the design is such as to invite natural daylight deep in the building.

Cultural destination
The new library is designed to draw people from not only the local population, but from all over the world as visitors to Birmingham, a city reborn as a cultural destination. The Library of Birmingham is designed to be a place for the dissemination of ideas and information, a social heart of the city; a second home for Birmingham’s diverse community.’