‘book mountain + library quarter’ by MVRDV, spijkenisse, the netherlands image © jeroen musch all images courtesy of MVRDV
rotterdam-based MVRDV has just completed the ‘book mountain + library quarter’ centrally located in the market square of spijkenisse, the netherlands. a mountain of bookshelves is contained by a glass-enclosed structure and pyramidal roof with an impressive total surface area of 9,300 square meters. corridors and platforms bordering the form are accessed by a network of stairs to allow visitors to browse the tiers of shelves. a continuous route of 480 meters culminates at the peak’s reading room and cafe with panoramic views through the transparent roof. any possible damage caused to the books by direct sunlight is offset by the expected 4 year lifespan of borrowed materials.
additional functions including an environmental education center, meeting rooms, auditorium, offices and retail take place on site. taking the form of a traditional dutch farm to reference the agricultural roots of the village. the encompassing district integrates 42 social housing units, parking and public spaces to form a neighborhood. the masonry exterior of adjacent structures is introduced into the interior with brick pavers for the circulation spaces.
see our original coverage when this project was unveiled here.
view from market square image © jeroen musch
stairs lead to different levels to allow access to the mountain’s shelves image © jeroen musch
image © jeroen musch
seating and reading spaces border the mountain formed with bookshelves image © jeroen musch
a reading room and cafe are positioned at the peak image © jeroen musch
image © jeroen musch
upper level corridor image © jeroen musch
upper level corridor image © jeroen musch
exterior of the glass-enclosed mountain image © jeroen musch
at night image © jeroen musch
project info:
total budget incl. parking: 30 million EUR start project: 2003 start construction: may 2009 opening: october 2012 public part library: 3500 m2 environmental education centre: 112 m2 chess club: 140 m2 back office library: 370 m2 retail: 839 m2 commercial offices: 510 m2 length book shelves: 3205 m total (1565 m for lending, 1640 m archive) amount of books: currently 70.000 and space for another 80.000 the cover is 26 m tall and spans 33,5 m x 47 m parking: garage with grey water basin and 350 spaces client: gemeente spijkenisse user: openbare bibliotheek spijkenisse, milieuhuis spijkenisse, schaaksportvereniging spijkenisse architect: MVRDV, rotterdam, nl client housing: de leeuw van putten housing corporation installations: ARCADIS nederland, amersfoort, nl structure: ABT i.o.v. ARCADIS nederland, amersfoort, nl contractor: VORM bouw, papendrecht, nl technical architect: studio bouwhaven, barendrecht, nl book shelves: keijsers interior projects, horst a/d maas, nl glass: brakel atmos, uden, nl wood cover: de groot vroomshoop houtbouw, vroomshoop, nl interior advices: roukens + van gils, gouda, nl material book shelves: klp, lankhorst, sneek, nl climate, acoustics: dgmr, arnhem, nl lighting: arup, amsterdam lamps: viabizzuno, bologna, it foam furniture: feeks
LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN (224)
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Apr 21, 2021MVRDV (166)
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May 21, 2021PRODUCT LIBRARY
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Eric Schramm Dec 03, 2013 and Go Play Outside too! Oct 10, 2012 dbkii Oct 07, 2012 Daan van der Vorm Oct 07, 2012
more commentsHow do you reach the higher books? third shelf books are bad enough, but third floor ones? No article I’ve read covers that…
The library is not dead! It has returned with a vengeance!
I have dealt with a physical handicap for the last forty five years. I adapt and don’t expect my surroundings to do so for me. There are some things I can not do, some activities I can not participate in, some opportunities that are not an option to me, and many occupations that I could not perform. It is not the duty of society to adapt to me.
Europe has had a far more sensible approach to handicapped access than here in the states, ergo my comments. The mere fact that there is no EVIDENCE of the accessibility is refreshing. Here we would be likely to stick it out front and flaunt it to the detriment of the rest of the project. Mssr. DvdV: if the accessibility is truly there as you say, I congratulate you and your team on doing so with discretion and grace.
I was involved in the realization of this project. It’s 100% accessible for disabled people. The building is high-tech sustainable and most of the books are not displayed in the sun. It’s more for decoration.
So no worries about sunrays and temperature!