Competition Comments
Open and Accessible Design in Ningbo Library Ningbo Library I schmidt hammer lassen architects
Founded in 1927, the Ningbo City Librar y holds the largest collection of historic and ancient books in the region. The old librar y attracts 3–4,000 visitors daily. The aim of the new librar y is to increase the number of visitors to 7–8,000 per day. To deal with this increase the new librar y will be organized with an open plan layout containing 3,000 study spaces.
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ARCHITECTS’ COMMENTS
GENERAL INFORMATION Design Company
“We have designed a library which is open and accessible. It is organized around an 8,000-squaremeter open marketplace containing the most popular library functions and collections,” explained Morten Schmidt, partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects. “The marketplace is visually open on all sides connecting to a public plaza and a landscaped ecological park and lake, thus ensuring all interior spaces have a direct connection with the outside.” In the heart of the library is a central atrium in the form of a giant book stack containing study desks, reading booths, Internet stations and media spaces. This generous 28-meter-high space connects the marketplace at ground floor level with a series of quieter research spaces and the historic collections above. The atrium provides natural light to the center of the
schmidt hammer lassen architects Client City of Ningbo Location Zhejiang,China Province Design Area 31,405 m 2 Expected Completion Date 2016
Above: Aerial view Facing: Lobby
Renderings, sketchs and drawings: © schmidt hammer lassen architects
schmidt hammer lassen architects has been announced 1st place winner in the competition to design a 30,000-square-meter central librar y in Ningbo, China. Located in the hear t of Ningbo New East Town the new librar y sits on the edge of a new ecological wetland area which will form a new cultural hub of the city. With its open and accessible design the winning proposal makes it possible to display the librar y’s collection of more than 2 million books and double the number of daily visitors.
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Competition Comments
This page: Models Facing: Exterior view
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“The new library project is part of a transformation that the city of Ningbo is currently undergoing. Our proposal sits at the heart of the new town’s first phase immediately next to the new headquarters for the Ningbo Government. This location alone shows the importance the city has placed on its new Central Library,” said Chris Hardie, associate partner and head of schmidt hammer lassen architects’ Shanghai office. From a sustainable viewpoint the library design maximizes the use of passive solutions over technological add-ons. For instance, the use of natural daylight in all interior spaces is optimized through the building orientation. Natural ventilation will be maximized through the central atrium and the structure of the building will consist of exposed
concrete to optimize thermal stability during hot summer months and cool winters. Ningbo New Library is the first library designed by schmidt hammer lassen architects in China. It joins an impressive list of libraries designed by the studio: eight completed and four currently under construction. Best known is the Royal Library
in Copenhagen, which has set new standards for academic libraries all over the world. The most recently completed library is the Aberdeen University New Library, which received a RIBA Award in 2013. Under construction is Aarhus’s new public library – Dokk1, which will become Scandinavia’s largest library, and Halifax Central Library in Canada.
Ningbo Library
Renderings, models and drawings: © schmidt hammer lassen architects
images, rendering and drawings: © ALA Architects Ltd.
building during the day and acts as an urban lantern at night.
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Competition Comments
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Easy navigation through open plan layout
Open library space with the importance and popularity
Design three volumes
Combine three volumes
Confirm functions in each volume
Ningbo Library
Knowledge and entertainment place
Renderings, sketchs and drawings: Š schmidt hammer lassen architects
Above: Open study space Facing above: Lobby
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