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LONDON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Submission: September 27, 2015
Registration:  September 13, 2015
Language: English, Spanish
Location: London, England
Prizes: 1st Prize €2,500, 2nd Prize €1,000, 3rd Prize €500
Type: Students & Young Architects

 

ARCHMedium proposes the creation of a new public library for the city of London. Located in the financial district and near the Thames River, we suggest the creation of a place where culture, history and technology interlace to generate activity in the London of the 21st century.

In the financial district, on the banks of the Thames River, the new library is established as an entity of public and collective use, in a way that reflects the values of today ́s society.

SITE

Since its inception, London is a city in constant change. The last major urban transformation was for the 2012 Olympics where they took advantage of the sports facilities for the renewal and regeneration of the city.

Located on the south bank of the Thames, the Southwark neighbourhood has undergone many changes in the last 20 years. The recent completion of the largest tower in Europe, The Shard, confirms the precedent set by the transformation of the Tate Modern.

In 1995, architects Herzog & de Meuron transformed Bankside Power Station into a spectacular museum of modern art and laid the foundation for the development of new cultural industries in depressed areas.

Years later the study of Norman Foster made a master plan, which includes the construction of more than 279,000 sqm of offices, luxury hotels, restaurants, gyms and the city council itself.

The location of London Public Library emerges as a natural complement to Foster ́s master plan. In the initial planning, many luxurious and private sectors were implemented; therefore we propose inserting an equipment of public and collective use.

Located in Potter Fields gardens the plot of 6.000m2 is located near the Thames River and close to the Tower Bridge. The site is well connected to public transportation, and has great views of the Shard, Swiss Re and landscape Railroad Southwark.

The library should be inserted as continuity to
the master plan and should fit naturally with the London scale. The building does not have any limitation in plant height but it has to keep 100 % of the green footprint of the site. That is, you can occupy the whole site but you must distribute the outdoor public space on deck or any other proposed area.

PROGRAM

The new LPL must be a natural continuation of the city and a point of total access to information. An institution that redefines the classic concept of the library and is transformed into a warehouse of information where all forms of information, new or old, are presented equally to the public.

The program contains different privacy gradients along the building. A great Hall welcomes visitors as a continuation of the public space of the city. Large reading and work rooms transform the library into a great space of living, relationships and encounters. While other smaller and closed rooms are used for studies that require concentration. The bookshelves must be publicly accessible allowing users to search the information.

The children centre serves as an area for training and entertainment for children. With information specifically for them and a susceptible architecture, this centre will be used as a small nursery in the library. Parents working in multiple offices to

the area can leave their children while they work around.

The leisure centre is established as an entertainment venue where users can read lighter literature as well as watch videos and play games.

ELIGIBILITY

This category will accept architecture and related fields undergraduate students who can prove their student status on the day the competition launches with some official document (student ID or enrolment papers).

Graduate, masters, and PhD students who are currently enrolled in some official course can also participate, but only if they obtained their undergraduate degree less than 3 years ago.

The 3 year rule applies to graduate, masters and PhD students who are CURRENTLY ENROLLED only!

This category will accept young professional architects who graduated less than 10 years ago (according to their degree expedition date) can also join the competition and opt to win the “young gradautes” prize which will be awarded separately from the student prizes.

In both categories teams can be formed by just one member or up to six (6). Members of a team don’t necessarily have to be students at the same university or live in the same country.

It is not necessary that all members of a team are architecture specialists. Having a photographer, artist, philosopher, etc. on a team can help to see the project in a new way, thus enriching the final result. However, it is recommended that at least one member of the team has some experience in architecture.

The registration fee is paid per team, regardless of how many members form it.

PRIZES

Students:

1st Prize €2,500, 2nd Prize €1,000, 3rd Prize €500

  • Considered for publication in an architecture magazine.
  • First prize one-year subscription to architecture magazine
  • Displayed in ETSAB university (Barcelona)
  • Reviews in digital magazines and several architecture blogs.

Young Architects:

  • 2.000€
  • Considered for publication in an architecturemagazine
  • One-year subscription to DETAIL magazine
  • Displayed in ETSAB university (Barcelona)
  • Reviews in digital magazines and several architecture blogs.

REGISTRATION

The entry periods will be divided as follows:

Special June 8- July 19th  – 60.50€

Early July 20th – Aug 16th  – 90.75€

Regular Aug 17th- Sept 13  – 121€

*Registration prices include VAT (value added tax).

DOCUMENTATION & PRESENTATION 

All the necessary documentation to develop
the project, such as pictures of the site, videos, AutoCad drawings, etc. will be available at
the ARCHmedium website so that anyone
can download them before or after joining the competition. They may access and download
the materials as many times as they need to. No additional information or working material will be provided to teams after registering.

Participants are free to use all this material in the context of this competition. They are also allowed to create their own graphic documents or to find new ones from other sources.

Each team will submit only one din-A1 size (59,4, 84,1cm), landscape or portrait panel with
their proposal.

This panel must be identified with the registration code of the team and the registration code ONLY; any panel including team names or personal names might be disqualified without refund.

Each team is responsible for choosing which information they include in their panel so that the jury may gain the clearest understanding of
their project.

The representation technique is completely free (2D drawings, pictures of models, sketches, renders, collages, etc.). The jury will not only evaluate the quality of the project but also the clarity and quality of the presentation.

We do not recommend including large amounts of text on the panel. The project should be explanatory enough through the graphic material. However, certain notes might be acceptable. These notes must be written in English ONLY—any text written in

a different language will not be taken into account and may lead to a team’s disqualification.

SUBMISSION

Submissions must be done through the ARCHmedium’s intranet only, before the date indicated on the competition calendar. You must log in with your username and password and follow the upload process. No submissions will be accepted by e-mail or any other medium. The submission page will be automatically closed after the submission date and time are reached, not allowing any modifications or aggregations after that, so please, try to upload your project 24 hours in advance so that you have time to solve any issues that might come up along the way (they always do!).

The panel must be no other size than Din-A1 and be in no other format than JPG. The maximum weight of the file is 12MB.

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