Peckham Library in Southwark
More than just a building full of books -
the Peckham Library
The new Peckham Library was the Stirling Prize 2000 Building of the Year,
a wonderful modern structure, which creates a public space below the main body
of the library.
Located in one of London's less desirable
neighbourhoods, Peckham, the new library by William Alsop and Jan Stormer is one
of three elements (as well as the Peckham Arch and the Health and Fitness
Centre) defining a new public square.
Completed late in 1999, it is part
of a concerted programme of regeneration and community growth for this part of
the borough of Southwark.
Alsop Architects launched an intense dialogue
with the community to discover what sort of building Peckham's inhabitants
wanted.
The result was a striking example of the new community
architecture. The Peckham model proposes that the 21st century library should
reach out to the community, encourage access to knowledge and embrace the
diversity of the local population
Three wood-clad pods are the most
distinctive features of the library, housing the children's library, and
Afro-Caribbean literature centre and a meeting space. All part of an attempt to
provide a new image of the library - in effect, to re-brand it - as a dynamic
and creative centre of local life.
Yet this remains a library - not a
multimedia centre - and books are still at its heart (though supplemented by
videos and new information technology). These elements help to distinguish the
library from other, more sterile designs that are prevalent.
other libraries in
Southwark
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