Birmingham Library

New Birmingham Library

Opened in 2013, Birmingham’s £ 188 million library is situated on the west side of the city centre at Centenary Square and sits beside Centenary Square and Baskerville House at the bottom of Broad Street.

Designed by Mecanoo, the transparent glass building is a centre for learning, information and culture that unifies people of all ages and backgrounds .

Visitors move from one floor to the next through interconnected and overlapping rotundas that provide natural light and ventilation. Externally the library is clad in delicate interlocking metal circles inspired by the tradition of metalwork in this former industrial city. The library also includes a unique Roman style amphitheatre in its design.

As part of the design Jones of Oswestry designed, fabricated and supplied curved on plan SLOTDRAIN with an integral drainage channel and rodding points to drain the standing / viewing area overlooking the amphitheatre.

The library has significant collections, including the Boulton and Watt archives and the Bourneville Village Trust archive amongst others as well as a rooftop rotunda which houses the Shakespeare memorial room originally designed in 1882.

This Victorian reading room is lined with wood from the first Birmingham Central Library and its prominent position makes this room visible from the square below.

The building has received several awards and accolades – amongst them RIBA Stirling Prize Nomination 2014, Winner BBC Britain’s Favourite New building 014, RIBA National Award 2014, RIBA West Midlands Building of the Year 2014 and Architects Journal Building of the Year 2013 amongst them.