The vast LocHal library and events space, designed by Amsterdam-based studio Civic Architects, occupies a former glass and steel locomotive shed in Tilburg, the Netherlands.
Located in Tilburg's station district, the LocHal library is named after the locomotive shed in which it is housed. The building's imposing footprint measures 90 x 60 metres with a height of 15 metres.

Civic Architects has retained much of the industrial building's steel structure with its tall glass windows and towering riveted columns, that have shape the renovated interior.
Conceived as contemporary reinterpretations of the original building, new solid structures made from black steel, concrete, glass and oak are combined with a series of movable giant textile screens that can create temporary zones within the building.
Opened last month, the library is run by Midden Brabant Libraries which is using the space to showcase its library concept.
As well as a reading space, the building also functions as a meeting place for events organised by partners such as the arts organisation Kunstloc Brabant, and the co-working company Seats2Meet.

To make the building as welcoming and accessible as possible, the entrance hall is conceived as a covered city square with large public reading tables that double as podia, an exhibition area and a coffee kiosk.
A set of broad steps which can be used as event seating for over one thousand spectators connect the ground floor square to the building's upper floors where h...