Public Library Design Case Study:
Opening the Book was excited to work with Doncaster MBC in creating the new Danum centre, bringing together the Central Library, the Museum and the Art Gallery to one site. The centrepiece of the building is the partially restored frontage of the 1920s’ Doncaster High School for Girls which has been retained inside a glass atrium.
The unusual shape of the building presented many challenges and we were pleased to be able to work with the architects, project management team and main contractors, from the very early stages in 2017 till completion in 2020, to come up with a practical and flexible plan to accommodate the demands of all the services and provide a stunning space to represent the cultural life of Doncaster.
The discovery layout on the ground floor draws customers around the fiction collection, past the café towards the children’s library and the makerspace, branded Go Create. The Non-fiction collection is housed on the first floor where there are comfortable chairs and tables for relaxed reading.
A major part of the project was planning and designing clear and attractive guiding to help customers navigate the four floors of this complex building. We worked with designer Paul Miller to create a suite of floor directories and wall signs as well as beautiful, locally-inspired decorative graphics to glazing and walls. The project team was keen to showcase Doncaster’s many historical, industrial and fictional treasures, including Ivanhoe, the Vulcan aircraft, Thomas Crapper and Paddington, which were all incorporated into the graphics.
With all three services in the same building, it was considered important to build links between them and our Mobile Bookcases were ideal for displaying collections of relevant books in the Art Gallery and Museum areas. A collection of books for railway enthusiasts was placed on the lower ground floor beside the two undoubted scene-stealers - the No. 251 Atlantic locomotive and the V2 Class Green Arrow – both built in Doncaster.
The first new library built in the County for 20 years meant expectations were high at Thame for the library service and politicians as well as the local community.
Opening the Book and Broadstock Office Furniture are working together on a 3-year project to transform Boots Library.
The new Library and Customer Service Centre at Risca is built as a modern extension behind the restored façade of the old Palace Cinema which had been derelict for many years.
Opening the Book was contracted to deliver an interior design which made the space lighter and brighter, implemented a successful transition from staff-led counter service to self-service via RFID and improved the customer experience for over 500,000 people visiting the library each year.
Opening the Book was first appointed by Mace to work with the architects, structural engineers, project managers, landscape architects, mechanical and electrical designers at Stages A-E of the planned new building.
Transforming the old chapel in a 19th century school into a contemporary, practical library was an exciting challenge for our design team this summer.
Werneth School in Stockport has been in the fortunate position of being completely relocated into a new purpose-built home on the same site. As part of this, Opening the Book was invited to put forward a design for the new library.
Opening the Book first visited St Mary’s Church, Lichfield, in 2016 to consider the feasibility of the library being part of a larger refurbishment project.
This was a first for Opening the Book and gave us an opportunity to explore how we could bring the same aesthetic of integrating books and play that we bring to our public library projects into a very challenging, much more compact environment.
At Gateshead, Opening the Book created a successful MakerPlace in their existing Sound Gallery.
Opening the Book refurbished Gateshead Central Lending Library, including children’s and young adult areas, in 2009 so we were delighted to return to complete the work with a transformation of the computer and reference areas into the new Gateshead Archive.
Opening the Book refurbished Gateshead Central Lending Library, including children’s and young adult areas, in 2009 so we were delighted to return to complete the work with a transformation of the computer and reference areas into the new Gateshead Archive.