Public Library – Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
Title
Public Library – Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
Designed by
OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen
Image Credit
© Bas Princen
Website Source
Project
Project description provided by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen - The new library for the municipality of Sint-Martens-Latem is first of
all a central gathering point. In the tradition of the cultural centre, the
library is set up as a large living space, shared by the residents of the
municipality. A saddle-shaped roof is delimited by a circular perimeter.
The perimeter cuts the roof shape into a distinctive figure in the centre
of the municipality, as anchor point, as the first element of a cluster
of public buildings – buildings in the village centre, along the road and
along the new municipal settlement. The rounded plastered perimeter
makes the main space of the library building. The wooden library
cabinets inside are built alongside and also carry the roof. The cabinet
wall defines the separation line between library spaces and municipality.
In the round perimeter, a square figure makes both the reading garden
and the polyvalent hall. The reading garden is the centre of the library,
as the ‘largest room in the largest house’ of the municipality.
