New Central and Regional Library Berlin

The new Central and Regional Library provides an interface between the city and the park. On one side lays the nearby veins of the city, the motorway and S-Bahn, and on the other, resides the vast expanse of the airfield with its former runway cutting a straight a path alongside. Highlighting its public nature, the iconic presence of the geometric structure links the building to its role from afar, and beyond this immediate context, also with the city and the site. Both of the narrow tower-like facades facing the street and Tempelhofer Field use their staggered, space forming surfaces to invite and welcome visitors inside. Since most visitors will arrive at the library from the city centre, it is addressed towards the planned city district at Tempelhofer Damm. Side entrances are found south of the runway, formulated eastwards of the park, and also north of the new district. The building is nestled within a parkland fringe of forest and black pine. The wooded parkland thins towards the taxiway, fluctuating in density to provide open spaces for viewpoints and perspectives between the library and parkland. Varying scales can be discovered within the parkland from moments of intimacy to moments of grandeur. In the north a lens-shaped lake marks the transition to the new quarter and sets a calming tone from the hive of activity that surrounds the library. A pined area provides a variety of randomly distributed individual seating, that are available throughout the areas north and south of the library. The Park Arena attaches to the Eastern front side of the building and grants an alternative access to the basement of conference rooms via tiered seating and a gentle slope. Towards the direction of the Tempelhofer Damm / subway is a generous town square opening with some moments of isolation within the trees to enabling interesting visual relationships to develop. The plane is surfaced in a natural stone paving. A variety of bicycle parking spaces are located along both long sides of the building. In the north side fifty space plots are shown along the access road for the neighbourhood. More parking spaces are located at Tempelhofer Damm and east of the access of the S-Bahn, which runs as a dock with a lift on the access road for the commercial district to the south. The Park Arena attaches to the eastern front of the building, it provides tiered seating and an open area that leads to the basement where the event rooms are found. A self-supporting shell forms the basic structure of the building and spans a wide envelope around the books. The architecture references the form of a hangar folding inwards at the base in a welcoming gesture towards the accessible entrances inside. The generous, two-story foyer allows for quick orientation and forms the grand light-filled opener. The book depositories are located at the heart of the building in its widest part and are thermally disconnected from the façade through a house-in-house principle that provides a layer of protection. Around and above the four-story book depository stacks is where the public library is found, shaped in a terraced landscape that forms a spatial sequence by a slow ascent that changes the perception of the free external space. From the summit, one is above the roofs of adjacent buildings and has long-range views in all directions. A visitor not only has the pleasure of a spectacular spatial experience within, but also at any given moment a unique view of their city is shared. The dimension and orientation of spaces differentiate to the variety of user requirements. In addition to the scenic paths that can be taken to navigate the building there are also direct links between spaces by means of a compact escalator system that lead the visitors on a more direct route via the cuts and openings between floors and the various subject areas. The distribution function follows a series of logical cuts through the building and is appropriated to their requirements from high traffic and socially assigned areas to secluded, quiet zones. On the ground floor the functions are concentrated towards information and public service. In addition, the borrowing and returns point and the cafe can be reached from here. The events area underneath begins around the public library. The private office units on the one hand directly linked to the book depositories and on the other, spread over the open access area on three floors, compacted so that they enjoy a direct relationship with the public area as well as a vertical, direct connection to the book depository. The outer shell is open plan with the administration as a porch, so that the thermal façade is set back and is formed with necessary shading. This enables the library staff to individually and naturally ventilate the spaces. On the top 11th floor is the second part of the events area with the double height meeting room, cafeteria and a roof terrace that opens a wide view over the city. The building is accessible to the users at all levels from the bottom to the very top on the roof terrace. The facade forms are a result of the structural diamond layout within a homogeneous shell. Fine, shimmering gold profiles hold the glass panes. The glass surfaces of the south facade are equipped for solar energy, simultaneously providing partial shade via translucent photovoltaic modules that are angled to achieve their optimum efficiency.