Niall McLaughlin Architects referenced the brick and timber architecture of the University of Cambridge's historic Magdalene College in the design of its Stirling Prize-shortlisted New Library.
London-based Niall McLaughlin Architects won the project via an invited competition in 2014 to provide new facilities alongside the college's Grade I listed Pepys Library.
Niall McLaughlin Architects has created the New Library at Magdalene College
With the brief calling for a building that would last 400 years, the studio responded with a design that uses modest forms and natural materials to create a diverse range of reading spaces.
The New Library is the first substantial addition to Magdalene College's main campus in 50 years and was recently shortlisted alongside five other schemes for this year's prestigious Stirling Prize. The building is shortlisted for this year's Stirling Prize
Organised on a tartan grid, the library features reading rooms topped by lantern skylights and lined with bookcases. They are connected by a network of passageways that frame views out to the adjacent gardens and river.
Contrasting openness and intimacy, a triple-height entrance hall leads into a central double-height reading room flanked by smaller square spaces. Above, an enfilade along the building's eastern offers views out over the college.
The form of the building references Magdalene College's existing architecture
"The main library is a suite of interconnecting rooms lined with bookcase...