MVRDV: Book Mountain

Dutch architecture studio MVRDV have just completed a new 9,300 square metre library in Spijkenisse, a small city close to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Under a glass ceiling, the building features a striking volume of shelves, a true "book mountain". The book platforms are connected via wide stairs and together form a continuous route to the peak, which features a café.

Following the maximum permitted volume by building regulations, the book mountain is covered by a barn shaped glass envelope with wooden trusses, resulting in a transparent, almost open air library. The library's main room extends along route of 480 metres with bookshelves. The public space underneath the glass has no air conditioning: in the summer, natural ventilation and sun screens result in a comfortable indoor climate, and in the winter, radiant heating and double glazing maintain a stable interior environment.

"The library is designed as an advert for reading, its visible presence and invitation holding great significance for a community with 10 percent illiteracy," state MVRDV about the barn-shaped volume. "The exterior of the library refers in shape and materiality to the traditional Dutch Farm, a reminder of the towns agricultural past, which has grown from farming village to Ville Nouvelle in the past 40 years."

The library sits on the market square of Spijkenisse, next to the historical village church. Its barn shape The library building houses the environmental education centre, a chess club, auditorium, meeting rooms, commercial offices and retail. The stacking of all the building's functions forms a pyramid.

The adjacent Library Quarter consists of 42 social housing units, parking and public space have also been designed by MVRDV, forming alongside the "book mountain" an eco-neighbourhood.

MVRDV: Book Mountain and Library Quarter Spijkenisse
Architects: MVRDV (Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs e Nathalie de Vries)
Area: 9,300 square metros
Materials: wood, glass bricks
Shelves: recycled pots
Budget: 30 million euro
Opening: October 2012
Book capacity: 70,000 (with capacity for 80,000 more)
Client: Gemeente Spijkenisse
Installation: ARCADIS
Structure: ABT i.o.v. ARCADIS
Contractor: VORM bouw
Technical architects: Studio Bouwhaven
Climatisation and acoustic engineering: Dgmr
Lighting: Arup