The opportunity to create a new library in this setting that is already blessed with such a rich literary heritage is a great one. Indeed, the challenge is to create a civic asset that can also capture something of this character, and stimulate the imagination of a new generation of Thamesmead residents.

We propose a library that embraces and celebrates its waterside site. In a very London manner, as with the old brick factories of East London and the palaces of the upper Thames, we introduce the line of the water to the threshold of the building. By doing so we create an intimacy with the water’s surfaces, allowing for the enjoyment of a book to be accompanied by the trickle of water and the reflection of its ripples in the library’s interior.

Typology
Public, Culture

Status
Competition (2017)

Location
London, United Kingdom