Cork County Library Headquarters
Status
Gross Floor Area
Client
Cork County Council
The library is phase two of the Cork County Council Civic Campus. It is the headquarters for a twenty two branch county wide network of local libraries and provides administrative offices and a large book processing facility for Cork. There is limited public access at ground and first floors.
The building is L shaped in arrangement with a six storey wing on its western side enclosing a landscaped south facing public courtyard. A two storey horizontal wing encloses the space to the north. The provision of this new public amenity is made possible by locating the large book processing facility and archive storage below the courtyard level. It is lit and ventilated by two landscaped courtyards. The six storey block at ground floor contains the main entrance as well as public functions such as drama and music collections along with a flexible lecture and exhibition space. A double height undercroft at the southern end of this wing provides loading and delivery space for books. There is flexible office space on all the remaining floors.
The library is primarily a naturally ventilated building. It employs a combination of fixed vertical glass louvres and external automatic blinds which provide sun shading and protection from wind buffering allowing the opening of windows in comfort. The facade responds to the local climate ensuring optimal environmental conditions at minimum energy costs
Completion 2009
c.4430sqm