Weston Library Building, University of Oxford Interior, Bodleian, English Architecture
Weston Library at Oxford University
University of Oxford Education Building Development, England ? design by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
2 Jan 2017
Weston Library, University of Oxford
Design: Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Weston Library Shortlisted for Mies van der Rohe 2017 Awards
Mies van der Rohe 2017 Award Nominations
Weston Library, University of Oxford
Scott?s New Bodleian was designed as a storage facility for books with added curatorial accommodation. The building followed the typology of the Oxford quadrangle ? albeit inverted so that the central ?quad? was fully occupied by an eleven storey bookstack, which did not meet modern archival standards for fire, environment, accessibility or distribution.
Photos © James Brittain
The quad is re-created as the Blackwell Hall with a clear new entrance on the principal frontage. Full height voids surround a floating volume over the court bringing in soft daylight, maintaining the quadrangle character which is vital to its architectural legibility. The accommodation around the perimeter of the stack has been refurbished with special attention to the many heritage features still intact, providing exhibition galleries, reading rooms, seminar and research facilities and areas for conservation and curatorial activities. Over the public space there is a glazed open access book gallery, a visiting scholars? centre and a new reading room with extra...