"library"

Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC) in Athens has created homes for the National Library of Greece and Greek National Opera, which include a 1,400-seat auditorium. With significant steel structures involved, Nullifire SC902 Fast Track, On-Site Intumescent Steel Coating was used extensively to provide passive fire protection.

In 2018, pioneering polycarbonate roofing supplier Twinfix marked the first use in the UK of its premium bolted glass canopy. In fact, two of its new “spider-bolt” contemporary canopies have been used at the new Trumpington Park Primary School which supports the new Great Kneighton housing development near Cambridge, along with an existing secondary school and existing library building.

A bronze façade featuring integrated Rundum Meir garage doors for two new townhouses in central Manchester has been uniquely designed to reflect the architecture of the nearby John Rylands Library, one of the city’s most famous neo-Gothic buildings. The duo of four storey, high specification private dwellings designed by Snook Architects for regeneration specialist Watch This Space have given new purpose to an unused site nestling between two post-industrial buildings close to Deansgate. Their full height bronze façade delivers a striking external appearance that takes a distinctive visual cue from the library, located opposite. The aluminium façade of both townhouses features laser cut and acid-etched lacy blind tracery patterns that match those in the windows of the library, a late Victorian neo-Gothic building which opened in 1900 and is now part of the University of Manchester. The lacy pattern extends over the full height of the façade which includes large folding/sliding shutters. These balance privacy with natural light requirements for residents during the day whilst being eye-catching at night as internal light shines through the laser cut pattern. This design extends into the twin side sliding sectional garage doors manufactured and installed by Rundum Meir, which effectively deliver a sliding façade at street level. Working closely with architect Neil Dawson, Rundum Meir’s designers were able to replicate the design with total consistency and manufacture in Germany using acid etching across the six aluminium sections. Neil Dawson of Snook Architects said: “Watch This Space approached us to look at how they could transform this city centre site and we immediately saw the potential to take design inspiration from the nearby John Rylands Library. The resulting façade is unique, and through the movement of the shutters and garage doors during daily life it is constantly moving and changing. “The laser cut pattern means that the building really comes to life at night as the internal light makes the intricate façade design a stunning feature. To be able to match this styling in the garage doors was crucially important and the result reflects the bespoke craftsmanship provided by Rundum Meir.” The twin Rundum Meir sliding garage doors each provide a clear opening of 3.8 m for easy vehicle access from the street. Hand made using extruded aluminium, the fully automated bespoke garage doors have an automated pedestrian door as well as the side sliding door that demonstrate the design flexibility offered by Rundum Meir, who create every garage door to meet project requirements.

The future looks bright for students at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) thanks to its newly refurbished airy and inviting library space. Using Forbo Flooring Systems' Marmoleum Modular in contrasting colours and designs, a unique yet functional flooring design has been created, which has also led the project to be recognised as the winner of the Highly Commended award in 2016/17 UK Fly Forbo competition.

Descending into a valley at Grace Farms in New Canaan Connecticut, The River consists of five volumes linked together by a single curving roof. SANAA designed the project with Handel Architects serving as the executive architect. The new building provides a sanctuary, library, court, commons, and pavilion, all under an aluminium roof by Zahner.Previous collaborations with SANAA Ltd include the facade on the museum of contemporary Art in New York.

The new campus of the Erasmus Brussels University of Applied Sciences and Arts is located only a few steps away from the Dansaertstraat. This iconic design is a treat for lovers of minimal design with exposed concrete and very monochrome colour palette. The new campus of the Erasmus Brussels University of Applied Sciences and Arts is located only a few steps away from the Dansaertstraat designed by Architects B-Architecten, B-bis Architecten and B-city.The new campus hosts more than 1000 students. The 2 auditoriums, 40 subject classrooms, the teachers’ rooms, a study landscape, a library, a cafeteria and several sitting corners and terraces are now located in a trendy and lively city district.The building is a prominent and transparent construction with a heavy-set finishing touch. On the ground floor, the openness is transposed by a sunken and covered recreation ground. This big interior space is connected to the square in front of the building. Most public areas such as the students’ cafeteria, the library, the students’ administration office and several meeting areas border the recreation ground. The building opens up towards the square and the entire neighbourhood thanks to a full glass façade.

The design of the house specified an airtight and thermal efficient solution to meet Building Regulations. The brief for DGTS was to provide a highly insulated (U-Values for walls/0.11 and floors/0.13) envelope to the main steel frame structure and concrete beam and block floors to both ground and first floor level. The dwelling floor area was approx 700m² broken up into twelve rooms including a wet room, gym, media room and library.

Architect: Page \ ParkInstaller: McLaughlin & HarveyProduct: ‘Shiluvit’ by Oranit400m2 of Shuluvit panels in 7-501 formation and Natural Yellow Pine were installed to the ceilings of the entrance way and cafe area of Kelvin Hall in Glasgow as well as 170m2 of linear acoustic planks in Natural Oak veneer to the main lecture theatre.The facility on historic Argyle street to the west of Glasgow city centre is a thriving community hub. Home to event and lecture space for the public as well as the University of Glasgow and local businesses. Kelvin Hall also houses the Glasgow Museums and the National Library of Scotland, celebrating the country’s history in historic and present literature and manuscripts as well as maps, films, and digital media.In addition to the educational spaces Kelvin Hall also has fitness suites for both adult and child classes as well as a 100 piece gym and multiple sports hall for public and commercial use. New to the facility in 2019 is the public climbing wall activity centre and soft-play for younger community members!The newly refurbished Kelvin Hall is home to parts of the National Library of Scotland, Glasgow Museums, and University of Glasgow research exhibitions as well as the Glasgow Club hosting fitness classes and children’s gymnastics clubs.

Following consultation with the city planning department, Mather & Ellis Stonemasons ordered Clement W20 steel windows for phases 3,4 and 5 of works completed during 2014. Steel windows were replaced in many of the University’s fine buildings including The Beyer Building, John Owens Building and The Christie Library. Although the Clement W20 steel window system was used throughout, every building had individual design and installation specifications to maintain the correct appearance.

Comprising 546 rooms in total, most of the space is divided into 'twodios' - two en-suite bedrooms that share a small kitchenette. Old Oak also includes a range of dedicated communal facilities and spaces including a restaurant, library, lounge and spa, where they have used a selection of natural, warming tones including Parisian Pine, Cellar Oak and Aged Timber. All of these areas are designed to bring people together: from quiet spaces to work in, through to open spaces for socialising.

Designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen and opened in 1999, the Black Diamond is an extension to the Royal Library in Copenhagen that doubles its size. Its exterior of two glossy black cubes slightly tilted over its harbour-front walkway, reflect the sky above and the sea before it.This glass-and-black-marble structure, which changed the face of the city’s harbour, features a stunning eight-story atrium, whose undulating walls and balconies echo the ebb and flow of the harbour’s waterway.

In the course of the restructuring and refurbishment of a multi-storey library tower (MST) for the School of Law and the linkage of the tower to the adjacent Peter Froggatt Centre (PFC) to form a new student hub at Queen’s University in Belfast, the architects TODD decided to use Wienerberger’s Lincoln Red brick to tie the scheme into its surroundings. Generally, the brick was laid traditionally, but brick slips secured to a proprietary backing board were also used to form soffits and glazed into the curtain walling on the PFC façade.

Designed by LS3P Associates and constructed by M.B. Kahn Construction Co., the Wando Library located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, United States boasts a stunning and unique façade. This look was created by using Longboard Tongue & Groove siding planks in Dark Cherry, Light Cherry, Western Cedar and Black in a series of different profiles. This creative integration of products developed an enticing and eye-catching design to welcome the public inside. Tongue and Groove material can be installed both horizontally, as well as vertically as pictured in this particular project.

This huge new cultural center, located in the heart of the capital, covers an area of 214,000 square meters, which equates to the area of thirty football fields. It includes a 2,000-seat opera house, the first in the Gulf emirate, as well as a music center, a conference center and a library of historical documents. Inaugurated on Monday, October 31st, 2016, it bears the name of former Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Amad. Barrisol® has installed immense lightening membranes, giving the illusion that they are endlessness. Architect : SSH International, Architects

University of Leicester have recently introduced their renovated £24m Percy Gee campus. The four-storey expansion features a new dedicated informatics lab, a high-tech media centre and a performance studio, an integrated student and library hub, as well as new food court.University of Leicester engineer: Rick SturgessContractor: Henry Boot Construction LtdArchitect: Shepheard Epstein HunterAspex supplied: Novista concealed timber doorsets, Salto access solutions, integrated with automated doors internally and externally

Between 2016 and 2019, MICA Architects performed a restoration of Lincoln's Inn, that compromised heritage-led conservation and restoration with bold contemporary additions, to the oldest working library in London. The East Terrace development, is a new education suite beneath the existing east terrace of the Great Hall, which provides high quality advocacy training. Classic pieces in stainless steel from the Knud Holscher collection, creates the finishing touches within this historical building. The simplicity and classicism of the products, is perfectly compatible with the modern additions of the space.

Leeds City College, the third largest further education college in the UK, has opened a new city-centre campus to offer modern-day vocational study programmes. The campus is a £14 million new build extension and refurbishment of a Grade II listed building into a state-of-the-art specialist vocational centre with training kitchens, a commercial training restaurant, hair and beauty teaching facilities and commercial salons as well as a refectory, library and student services. Being a refurbishment project, the build had a number of challenges.

Coventry University Group’s £14m state-of-the-art campus in Scarborough was opened in September 2016. The building was designed to make sure that there was plenty of open and flexible space to give students both room to study and socialise. Facilities include a library, café, classrooms and open learning decks. As for energy efficiency, the choice of Senior’s high performance SF52 curtain wall and SPW600e windows ensures that energy bills are kept to a minimum. The result is a very vibrant building with all the facilities that students need to succeed and enjoy university life.

The aim of this new £61.5 Million development was to create a vibrant retirement community for the over 55s.With 261 spacious and fully accessible one- and two-bedroom apartments, the complex also features a restaurant, hobby and activity rooms, cinema, hairdressing salon, bar, library and gym.It was important that the apartments were bright and cheerful, warm and welcoming as well as secure. Which is why a range of Senior’s thermally efficient and robust systems were used throughout the complex to ensure maximum daylight and a comfortable environment at all times. 

The three-storey structure designed by FaulknerBrowns, includes library and exhibition space, IT suite, 3D printers, and café. The development, completed in October 2016, is part of a £100 million regeneration masterplan which partners South Tyneside Council with Muse Developments. Creating a curved structure can pose a challenge, but the Kingspan TEK Cladding Panel was successfully engineered to provide a smooth, highly insulated exterior envelope. To achieve this, the structural insulated panels (SIPs) were designed and factory cut into narrow widths. This allowed them to be quickly and easily fixed to the concrete frame.

The highly skilled decorating team ensured all areas of the castle, including the state drawing room, library, whiskey room and Baron's Hall, were all given a finish befitting of a multi-million pound development. The decorators were indebted to a variety of products from the Johnstone's range, including Stormshield Pliolite Masonry, Flexible Undercoat & Gloss system and Acrylic Durable Matt. The team took full advantage of Johnstone's colour matching technology to ensure the new colours matched the existing colours that have been in place for over 100 years.

Pioneer Square is a mixed use retail and leisure development in the the heart of Bicester in Oxfordshire, anchored by a Sainsbury’s superstore and including a 7-screen cinema, offices, library and hotel.As a regeneration project within the city centre, it included a 526 space car park over two levels. Lang+Fulton supplied 134 panels of Terra-34 open mesh grating to act as a security barrier over an area of 1010m2. In addition, 85 panels of Italia-100 louvres in various dimensions were supplied to cover an area of 231m2 which required visual screening.

As part of the continued development and expansion of Lincoln University campus, the client required a stylish, yet functional street furniture collection to be installed around the University central square. After detailed discussion with the landscape architect, about the options available, they chose the Collect Litter Bin and Ride Cycle Stand from the Metro 40 range. The elegant range complemented the landscape perfectly. The client chose standard colours and designs for the library square and also around the School of Architecture and Building. The overall project had continuity throughout the campus and reflected the university’s standard.

Leading moveable wall specialist, Style Partitions, has launched a new website aimed at architects, specifiers, contractors and end user clients. The new site features a whole range of benefits including the ability to view case studies by industry sector, watch videos of moveable walls in action, view technical specifications and gain access to key tools such as the NBS Specification Generator and Style’s moveable wall range on the ‘National BIM Library’. There is also a section dedicated to Style’s moveable wall service and repair division, with its UK-wide support team.

Designed by Hopkins Architects, Brent Civic Centre was constructed in 2013 as part of a major modernisation and centralisation initiative. It was the first public building to achieve a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating to make it the most sustainable building of its kind in the UK. Housing Brent’s civic, public and administrative functions, including community hall, library and civic chamber, alongside retail space and landscaped gardens, the 40,000 m² building provides a modern hub for the local community. To ensure safety and maintain interiors, the soaring, naturally lit foyer utilises our INTRAform DM entrance matting system. Read more...

The maintenance-free finish of Neaco’s powder coated aluminium balustrade has made it a long-standing favourite in the education sector, with countless specifications throughout the UK, and the latest example is a £14 million development at Elthorne Park High School in Ealing. Designed by Re-format and built by Balfour Beatty on behalf of Ealing Borough Council, the building includes a new multi-purpose performance and activity space, extended library facilities, additional Sixth Form teaching and study space. The balustrade features a metallic finish to handrails and stanchions complemented by glass panel infills for a contemporary appearance.

The project was to create a partitioned living space with the requirements of ample storage, traditional style, integrated LED lighting and a sliding door mechanism. After seeking advice from our Holland office, Ralpine Designs decided that our Husky 100 sliding door hardware was the right project for the job. Using a library and display unit, the living room and dining room could be separated into two rooms or opened up as one big room when required. The system was used to hold two biparting wooden doors, utilising a face fixed aluminium track for added quality.

The institute's new home houses offices, laboratories, clean rooms, workshops, a library, a daycare center and even a nine-meter-high balloon hall. Due to the heavy technology in the balloon hall, the bonded screed was required to have a guaranteed quality of CT-C50-F6. With RETANOL® XTREME, the company Bodentechnik Funk from Lohmen not only exceeded all expectations in terms of early strength, quick readiness for covering and final strength: the installed RETANOL® XTREME even achieved CT-C50-F8 and surface adhesion measurements showed values ​​of 3.4–4.2 N/ mm².

University of Wales in Swansea has invested £8million into the refurbishment, restoration and extension of the Grade II listed former Central Library building to create the new Institute for Sustainable Design. Devised by Powell Dobson Architects, the development incorporates a stunning twin wall façade featuring AluK curtain walling systems, complementing and adding a new dimension to the original design. The modern, double skin façade extension provides an additional 657m2, and incorporates a new reception entrance, workshops, teaching spaces and design studios. The original circular reading room has also been restored and made available as a public venue.

“The Word has set the standard for Design thinking in the UK.” David Lindley, Executive Director at Designing Libraries. The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, is the iconic centre piece of a multi-million pound regeneration project in the heart of South Shields. Arranged as a modern rotunda, The Word offers innovative facilities designed to inspire creative ideas and nurture a love of learning. ROCKFON® Mono® Acoustic seamless ceiling system is installed throughout to meet both the aesthetic and acoustic requirements which helped the project win the prestigious Public Sector Interiors Project of the Year award.

The Nantgarw student Campus is part of Coleg y Cymoedd (College of the Valleys) in Wales. When the campus required a fast refurbishment of their Library, they turned to international flooring specialist Gerflor to supply Gradus Carpets for the much-used library. This successful renovation, then resulted in the specification of a vast selection of other Gerflor products for other areas of the campus.The project provided Gerflor with the perfect platform to showcase a raft of other high-quality flooring solutions ideal for the demands of the modern-day education environment. The project would amount to an immense 5300m2 of Gerflor products being specified.Commenting on the project Tony Thorne, Specification Manager, Gerflor, South Wales said, “The end user was so pleased with the final result they chose to work with Gerflor and Carpet Services for other areas of the refurbishment programme across the entire campus.”The installation would be the responsibility of Carpet Services Flooring, Cardiff. Ray Gallivan, Contract Manager at Carpet Services said, “The Gerflor flooring products that were specified for this iconic project are really meeting the high standards required for the end user. We would continue to use Gerflor on a weekly basis. The final result at the college is extremely impressive.”The design and specification of the Nantgarw Sports Centre of Excellence would fall to Cardiff-based architects Austin-Smith: Lord. Jonanthan Jones, Associate at Austin- Smith: Lord commented, “The Gerflor flooring products specified are absolutely meeting the high specifications set for the education project and client’s brief. We would definitely specify Gerflor again.”

Leeds Arts University completed a 5-year £22m building expansion with HERADESIGN® Sonic Element and Baffle Element, installed throughout the main entrance, library and the new group spaces to minimise noise disturbance.The design for the project meant all the mechanical services had to be exposed and the lighting integrated into the hanging canopies.Paul King of DLA Design Group said, "We chose HERADESIGN® because, aside of the acoustic performance, we liked the natural, raw wood wool. It’s a striking and versatile material and we were really impressed with how the individual panels could be matched to the chosen colour scheme.”

The Mildenhall Hub is on of the first projects of it's type and combines a number of community facilities, including the Mildenhall Academy, Leisure Centre, Children’s Centre, Pre-school, Public Library, Advice Centre and offices for councils, and the NHS. This provides the town and surrounding area with integrated access to community services. Benchmark worked with the Architect at an early stage to develop FF&E solutions to the variety of areas and comply with the relevant government guidance and regulations. The contractor then engaged with us to develop the furniture schemes throughout the project to complete the FF&E design in collaboration with the Architect and End Users, before proceeding with manufacture and installation of all fixed furniture items.

The conversion of a west London former town hall to include residential accommodation features Crittall windows, carefully designed to preserve the building’s original character. The former Acton Town Hall, in Ealing London Borough, has been partly converted to provide a public library and leisure facilities but the Grade II listed structure also now contains a range of apartments. The building, which dates from 1909, was designed in an Italianate palazzo style, executed in locally made red bricks with Portland-stone dressings.  For the refurbishment and conversion the windows within the original building were replaced with Crittall Corporate W20 profiles.

Crown Paints’ colour experts have unveiled three new colour trends; ‘Saturated’, ‘Washed’ and ‘Midnight Garden’, which are set to influence colour schemes for the next season. Each with its own distinctive look, the three trends include a palette of signature colours and supporting accent tones together with more neutral hues. Crown Paints’ Colour Services team is on hand to offer expert assistance and advice on all aspects of colour specification. As well as providing bespoke colour cards and a colour library the team can also guide specifiers through the process of creating individual colour schemes, tailored to clients’ requirements.

For many hotels, adaptable space is key to maximising revenue from hiring out of function rooms. Recognising this, Rushton Hall, a magnificent Grade I listed country house hotel in the Midlands, contracted Style to add flexibility to the newly refurbished Library and main function rooms, allowing privacy when required but also ensuring the area could be opened out for larger gatherings. DORMA Variflex was agreed as the most suitable moveable wall for this historic building and Style installed two separate partitions to give maximum flexibility across three rooms, all in a stunning finish to complement the elegant interior design.