Atak Architekti creates library for Liberec by restoring and lengthening a former rectory
Czech studio Atak Architekti has added a metal-clad extension to a former rectory constructing to create a library and multifunctional group areas for town of Liberec within the Czech Republic.
Designed for the native municipality within the southeastern district of Vratislavice, the IGI Library was designed to create a brand new public hub for the world.
Seeking to preserve the character of the prevailing constructing, its deep foundations have been used to carve out a semi-recessed basement stage, housing studying rooms and areas for use by native golf equipment.
Excavating extra of the southern half of the location additionally allowed for the creation of a brand new public sq., flanked by giant ramps that present entry across the constructing and lined with giant home windows that enable mild into the basement areas.
“The concept of the design is to create a brand new public place that can hook up with the prevailing vibrant centre of Vratislavice, outlined by public buildings and the château backyard,” stated the studio.
“A brand new piazzetta is created, impressed by the rhythm of small squares within the neighborhood of the general public buildings,” it continued.
The bottom flooring of the principle constructing incorporates nearly all of the library areas with a devoted kids’s library above, accessed through a central staircase.
Each a first-floor glazed hyperlink bridge and a skylit basement hall hook up with the brand new four-storey extension, which has been constructed from uncovered concrete.
The extension homes additional library areas in addition to a basement auditorium and floor flooring reception, and is topped by an open studying room with stepped timber seating beneath a curved concrete ceiling.
“Within the studying room, the contact with timber by the panoramic window is so shut that readers really feel like they’re sitting contained in the tree crowns,” stated the apply.
Whereas the unique timber construction was in too poor a situation to retain, the masonry work was preserved and largely unaltered, with the brick and stonework completed in white plaster in some areas of the inside and left uncovered in others.
Towards this extra rustic backdrop, the library’s shelving and seating has been made out of pale timber, with each the bottom of cabinets and deep window sills doubling as seating areas for guests.
“The uncovered concrete and the brick and stone masonry of the inside are softly lined with wood seats and booksheves, [creating] all form of hiding locations and nooks the place the customer can continuously uncover one thing new,” stated the apply.
Whereas the outside of the prevailing constructing has been restored and re-plastered, the concrete extension has been completed with folded steel panels, clearly standing out as a recent addition.
Different library tasks not too long ago featured on Dezeen embody the updating of a Seventies Brutalist library in Oregon by Hacker Architects, and the completion of the 15-year transformation of the Nationwide Library of France by Bruno Gaudin Architectes.
Pictures is by Tomáš Souček.
