Project Title: Taylor Library
Location: Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Wood Species: EUROPEAN OAK
Project Description
A new Library, Court and Student Centre for the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College Cambridge.
This project began with an architectural competition to house an undergraduate library within the Victorian Nat West Bank, which sat on the corner of Trumpington and Benet Streets.
To accommodate the library, the ground floor and structure of the main banking hall was removed and the basement level dropped by just over half a metre, to provide a large volume into which a three storey oak “building within a building” has been placed.
It is entered off the newly formed Library Court, via a lobby overlooked by the librarian’s office. The compressed scale of the entrance area provides a contrast to the three storey library.
The library is entered on the middle of three floors and adjacent is the main staircase which is top lit.
The oak bookcases are in the centre of the plan, where there is least daylight. These are densely arranged and slot into and conceal new cruciform shaped steel columns. This combination creates an unusual depth of wood for a contemporary building, which gives the library solidity.
Beyond this space are the readers’ seats and desks, which are concealed behind the bookcases and contained within framed balconies. The readers cannot be seen from the outside but all benefit from having natural light from the banking hall windows. These and the form and geometry of the original external walls are deliberately out of sync with the internal arrangement of the oak box creating contrasting forms. Consequently one has glancing views of spaces beyond spaces and each of these is unique and asymmetrical. The intention of these arrangements is that one could metaphorically lose or hide oneself in the maze of the library, in which the boundaries between spaces are not altogether clear but readers’ seats are contained and views framed for contemplation and respite from study.
The arrangement of voids and solids within the library creates a space which can be daylit and naturally ventilated. Fresh air is drawn in at the lowest level from Benet’s Passage churchyard and also from Library Court. In warm weather, vents in the roof open.
The commitment to finding low energy solutions and the desire to resolve fully complex spatial relationship between different areas of the College are typical examples of ideas which the College’s representatives engaged in wholeheartedly. Converting the bank to a library was a challenging architectural concept and it was only through the College’s commitment to using inventive engineering and investing in high quality materials which allowed it to be realised: oak, and solid oak was requested by the College.
The project was developed in collaboration with several consultants. Robert Bowles, a partner in Alan Baxter and Associates. The environmental strategy was devised by Max Fordham LLP. Costings were provided by Davis Langdon and project management by EC Harris. The artwork etched on the glass is by Lida Kindersley.
BUILDING OWNER: CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
ARCHITECT: WRIGHT & WRIGHT ARCHITECTS
BUILDER/MAIN CONTRACTOR: HAYMILLS (CONTRACTORS) LTD
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS: ALAN BAXTER ASSOCIATES
JOINERY: NEIL BURKE JOINERY
