Eight domed structures built from rammed earth will distinguish the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library that architecture studio Adjaye Associates is developing in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Set to be built in the suburb of Riviera, the library will pay homage to the country's second post-apartheid president, Thabo Mbeki, and celebrate ancient and contemporary African history.
Among its facilities will be a research centre and museum, which Adjaye Associates hopes will establish it as an "anchor point" for local and international scholars.
A reading room will be among the library's varied facilities
Alongside the research centre and museum, the building will contain seminar rooms, a reading room, an auditorium and temporary exhibition spaces. There will also be a cafe and shop, an area dedicated to the empowerment of women and archival spaces for the storage of artefacts belonging to historical African figures, including Mbeki.

The mud that will be used to build the rammed earth structures will all be sourced locally in an attempt to help reduce the library's embodied carbon footprint. Similarly, portions of timber cladding will be harvested from native wood species while terrazzo flooring throughout the building is to be crafted from local stone.
To minimise the building carbon emissions when in use, Adjaye Associates plans for the library to utilise rooftop photo-voltaic solar panels to generate electricity.
A geothermal heating system is also planned, and it wil...