FINAL DESIGN - Uses and Form

Work this week has concentrated on two things. The first was trying to define and then show how different age groups would use there spaces. From the beginning, they idea of the multilevel library was to allow vertical separation be a natural way to differentiate age groups.

Some reading on the matter revealed a mass of research into what children's requirements are, and what sort or spaces help them learn. These range from the highly structured pre-school to high school graduation seen in most schools and which seems to be the commonly held wisdom in our part of the world. But there are no shortage of other theories as well, from inclusive methods to environments like rural schools where children of all ages learn in the one setting. There seems to be very little hard evidence (or perhaps just too much conflicting evidence) to say which sort of space is best for which age group.

I informally interviewed some teachers and simply asked them how they arranged their classrooms. I asked this first, and then asked which ages they taught. They ranged from complete indifference to the physical environment to strongly believing it was an essential part of the classroom experience. Some teachers were strong advocates of a multi-media approach, others were traditional (and this did not depend on the teacher's age or time of training).

Given that this library is not for a specific school or even a specific age group, I decided to simply differentiate the spaces on the basis of possible intensity of use, and type of use. Naturally, this leads to a certain age typing anyway, as louder and more vibrant environments usually appeal as learning environments for younger children, while older children generally need other settings. Thus, rather than having age exclusive zones, there might simply be differences in types of facilities.

Finally, since the emphasis will be on languages and communication, there is a strong case for presenting environments based on activity rather than age. Practicing reading is a specific activity regardless of the age of the reader, as is practicing conversation.

Representative Section: Different levels still reflect different intensities ant types of activities rather than set age-groups.

The second aspect that occupied this week was finalizing the tectonics of the design. I have not fundamentally changed the layout, but have altered the floor plan to great more interesting effects than the original smooth-sided design. The floors now rise as inverted steps, and the stair has been substantially redesigned. The second tub lift has been removed, and the stair has been rotated around by sixty degrees, taking it off the axis of building courtyard.

Current Ground Floor: There are two options for the steps. The option shown installed provides a broad set of steps that can double as seating and a feature of the courtyard. It is very heavy and probably just too much. The second is a straight stair that is still broad enough to be a seating feature. It allows voids either side withing the building, offering options for light wells and internal features built around the staircase.

FIRST FLOOR: Simple CAD version of first floor. This shows the broad stair in place. The conventional stair would have voids either side running from top to bottom. This floor is representative, and holds the administration offices as well as main foyer. Anticlockwise from the stair are magazine racks, then varied spaces for younger children or louder activities.