Evaluation
The building is regarded as extremely successful by the client, the architect and the users. It is featured in the media as an icon which is putting Peckham "on the map" as a destination in London, as well as in governmental material aiming to reinvent the expectation and image of public services - Peckham Library for instance is featured as part of Department of Culture, Media and Sport video "The People's Network" (New Opportunities/IT)
The idea of a building lifted from the ground and therefore with library access dependent on public lifts and stairs was initially seen as a risk. This courageousness in carrying through this gesture, however, contributes significantly to the presence of the building in the urban centre. The building's form ensures the accessibility of Peckham Square with good visibility and easy pedestrian thoroughfare across from Peckham Hill Street and Peckham High Street. The orange "beret" and lettering "LIBRARY" playfully animate the roofscape, marking the building from locations beyond the Square itself. The impact of this on the interior of the building is also dramatic, linking this community with the City of London as stunning views are disclosed on travelling up through and within the useable spaces of the building.
Alsop Architects describe an approach of "civism" where civic space is defined as a place where you can meet someone outside, name the place and know where to go. Both the library and the centre of Peckham have become more "civic" in relation to this definition. The presence of the building perhaps raises expectations of its content, which is a branch rather than a central library. The building "punches above its weight" according to the client, while the architects refer to it "doing more than it was supposed to do". It gains from being a stand-alone building rather than, for instance, part of a wider services/retail development.
The use of the building has exceeded expectations, with now over 500,000 visits per year, mostly local. It is filled with school age users after school and Southwark Libraries are proud of innovative reading/ literature work for both adults and teenagers. The variety of spaces within the library - the main desks, children's area, "pods", tables by windows - and the very long opening hours help to balance different user groups and noise levels within the main space. Most seemingly frivolous elements have a purpose, for instance, the orange "beret" on the roof acts as a sunshade to light entering the central part of the library.
The designers responded creatively to the brief, proving that playful gesture and reinvention of the urban fabric can be achieved while working with a clear brief to regenerating a desperately poor area and to providing improved services and a robustly maintainable building.
