(9 December 2013) schmidt hammer lassen architects has been announced 1st place winner in the competition to design a 30,000 square metres central library in Ningbo, China. Located in the heart of Ningbo New East Town the new library 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 library’s collection of more than 2 million books and double the number of daily visitors.
Founded in 1927, the Ningbo City Library holds the largest collection of historic and ancient books in the region. The old library attracts 3–4,000 visitors daily. The aim of the new library is to increase the number of visitors to 7–8,000 per day. To deal with this increase the new library will be organized with an open plan layout containing 3,000 study spaces.
“We have designed a library which is open and accessible. It is organized around an 8,000 square metres 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.”
Read the press release here.
