Office 229: openbare bibliotheek

For the Open Call competition for a new library in Sint-Martens-Latem, OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen proposed a simple yet richly nuanced building. The library is perfectly circular in plan, and so has no explicit front or back. Instead, it faces all sides equally. This gesture reinstates the public character of the school building behind it. Surprisingly, the circular building is adorned with a pitched roof. As such, the design merges a very abstract and a highly vernacular gesture into one difficult whole. Inside, a large patio effortlessly organizes the library and reading spaces, and makes the building inward-looking. With a coat of expressive brickwork, a corrugated metal roof and yellow doors, the façade of this almost schematic design will be realized in an equally sharp set of materials that inject a dash of ‘pop’ in this rural town.

- Louis De Mey