Cranfield University Library

Cranfield University was founded in 1946 as a school for aeronautical engineers. Today it is one of Britain's leading technical education and research establishments, incorporating a wide range of postgraduate studies, and is a major foreign currency earner for research contracts.

The new Library provides a much-needed focus for the campus. Built on a square plan, it consists of four barrel-vaulted, steel-framed bays, one of which forms a broad central atrium - the hub of the Library - linking all three floors. The overhanging roof provides sheltered walkways along the sides of the building, while at the front it extends to create a vaulted entrance canopy.

The building reformulates the concept of the library in the information age: it is the reverse of the closed book stacks and forbidding screens and security barriers of traditional libraries. Seven kilometres of open bookshelves are located on the upper levels, freeing the ground-floor entrance area for social uses, focused around a coffee bar.

Library systems are designed to adapt easily to information technology advances, and a perimeter desking system allows students to plug in their own computers or laptops and have instant access to the University's computer networks and electronic databases. Maximum use is made of glare-free natural light and views. Rooflights at the apex of each vault bring natural light to the atrium and upper floors. Daylight is evenly distributed across the ceiling by gull-wing deflectors and can be supplemented by indirect lighting from continuous fluorescent bulbs. External shading to the glass facades minimises heat gain during the summer months and allows comfortable conditions to be maintained through a ventilation-only system. The complete range of building services is controlled through a comprehensive building and energy management system.

Using a restrained palette of high-quality materials, the Library was built within costs no greater than those of a traditional brick building. Commentators have noted its evocation of a classical temple complete with peristyle and portico, which is perhaps appropriate given the symbolic role it plays at the heart of the campus.

Client: University of Cranfield
Consultants: Arup, Davis Langdon & Everest, Roger Preston and Partners, George Sexton Associates