Description

The form of the building is unusual, an L-shaped volume likened to "a cat arching its back" by the architects. The two upper floors effectively cantilever over Peckham Square, supported by splayed columns on its far edge, forming a sheltered thoroughfare and transparent entrance in the glazed facade below.

The building is dramatically clad in pre-weathered green copper, with pink, yellow, orange, blue and green coloured glass panels covering the north facade.

Two lifts from the transparent ground floor entrance travel to and from the upper spaces, while a steel and concrete stair is located adjacent to the coloured glass facade on the north side. A spectacular view of the whole of central London emerges through the wall of glass in each lift as the upper floors are reached. The main double height library space is bright with natural light from above and windows cut out in the walls which capture fragments of the surroundings. Unique "pods", covered in stained and polished plywood, appear to float in the space, which can be climbed up to and provide a quieter reading/study area, a meeting room and a room for children's activities.

The building has an exposed concrete frame with steel and glass curtain walling. It is naturally ventilated with no air conditioning. Passive cooling effects are achieved by the thermal mass of the concrete frame and exposed soffit of the main undercroft combined with cross-ventilation across the lower, thin part of the building. The unusually coloured glass was formed from inter-layer lamination, the sculptural form of the pods built by a builder of church domes. All the glass and copper elements are recyclable, and complex internal finishes are avoided.