Harbourside Library
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 2024
- Rotterdam Public Library Foundation
- Public library and reading rooms
- 4,200 m²
- Architecture, structural engineering, interiors
- Completed
A neighbourhood library on Rotterdam’s old harbour, where deep brick piers frame tall windows and the bookshelves themselves become the facade.
The library replaces a closed warehouse on the quay and was conceived as a reading room open to the street. Rather than hiding the collection behind solid walls, we placed the shelving directly against the glazing, so that from outside the building reads as a cabinet of books held within a brick frame.
Load-bearing brick piers carry the floors in a regular rhythm and give the facade its depth. Their thickness shades the glass from low western sun and creates deep window reveals that double as seats on the inside.
Inside, a central stair rises through all four levels, connecting the children’s floor at the quay with quiet study rooms above that look out across the harbour basin.
