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Concept of the building

A glittering building with resonances of the North. An inviting, finely-landscaped public square, drawing the visitor in to a spacious, light and airy ground-floor plaza, with luminous views up through the open atrium, and connecting the lively public spaces of the café, exhibition and event area with the monumental foundation of our historical collections below and the flexible, functional, bookstacks and study areas of the floors above. Views over the chapel tower, the city and the coastline, will connect the library with the community it serves.

Our new library will be much more than a conventional library. It will be a landmark building, a bold architectural statement: powerful, dignified, inviting, and a positive contribution to the Aberdeen skyline. Inside it will feature: 

• An internal environment of the highest quality: light, spacious, airy, clean, elegant and timeless – through the juxtaposition of materials and colour in light and space.
• A main book store with areas dedicated to optimal storage and access for ‘heavy demand’, reference, periodicals, music, microfilm, AV material, DVDs and maps.
• Reader spaces, of varying types, groupings and locations, all with IT systems facilitating hard-wired PCs and wireless access
• A flexible and functional forum for meeting, conferring and sharing with peers and colleagues from different disciplines, with information obtainable in any medium, plus the flexibility to accommodate future technologies.
• Secure, environmentally controlled areas for the special historic collections and archives, with an associated suite of supervised reading areas.
• A conservation lab to maintain the University’s treasures, and those of other northern collections.
• Public areas with a café and space for exhibitions, readings and other events on the ground floor.
• A BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) rated building: providing the highest standards relating to sustainability, acoustics, material choices, safety and security, and fully compliant with disability access.
• A facility which matches the University’s international academic ambitions and is inviting and of value, not only to the University population, but also to the local and Scottish community, and to researchers, academics and visitors from around the world.