This project was aimed at expanding the existing library by bringing together four facilities in the town (the lifelong learning center, after-school nursery school, development support center, and center for the elderly). In a town in which the population continues to decline, the plan was to make the project function as a “new town nodal point” by creating a synergistic network of the surrounding facilities and integrating functions.
The building has a compact layout built around the existing L-shaped library. As the government offices, children’s garden, shopping district, and residential area are close to each other on each of the four sides of the site, entrances and exits were provided on each of the four sides to improve convenience for the townspeople. In addition, the outer screen glass façade and deep eaves open up the activities performed inside to the town, that avoids a traditional front-to-back appearance and makes it more welcoming to visitors.
Inside, the lines of flow from the cross-connecting entrances and exits on each of the four sides all join the “promenade” that surrounds the circular plane of the playroom located in the center of the building. By having the various activities performed along this “promenade”, we have produced a structure that creates a sense of unity, allowing users to look over each other’s activities.
As for the structure, the one-story section is constructed of wood and the two-story section is constructed of RC. The wooden section is based on a 7.2m grid made of locally produced larch with a large cross section. The playroom, with a diameter of 18 m, located in the center of the facility is formed of beams laid in a grid shape on a circular plane, allowing the size of the span and beam members to be reduced.
Although the floor plan has depth, it was designed so that natural light would spread throughout the interior space as diffused light from the hollow polycarbonate panel above the playroom, the small, high side lights installed in various places, and indirect light from the courtyard.
The town’s new nodal point seeks to afford a place where the townspeople can freely participate in activities in an open-plan wooden structure filled with sufficient natural light.
