Bristol Central Library is a historic building on the south side of

College Green, Bristol College Green is a public open space in Bristol, England. The Green takes the form of a segment of a circle with its apex pointing east, and covers . The road named College Green forms the north-eastern boundary of the Green, Bristol Cathedral ...

, England. It contains the main collections of Bristol's

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

. Built in 1906 by

Charles Holden Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875 – 1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadwa ...

, its design was influential in the development of Edwardian Free Style architecture. Holden would later go on to build the

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

Memorial Wing of the

Bristol Royal Infirmary The Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) is a large teaching hospital in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the nearby University of Bristol and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England, also in Brist ...

, giving Bristol two of its most highly regarded Edwardian buildings. The Library has been designated by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Construction

In 1899 Vincent Stuckey Lean left a

bequest A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...

of £50,000 to replace Bristol's old public library building on King Street. An architectural competition was organised, and won by the firm of H. Percy Adams with designs by his assistant Charles Holden, at a cost of £30,000. The RIBA also credits involvement of Henry Percy Adams, along with Holden, for the reference library reading room. The new library was built on land adjacent to the historic Abbey Gatehouse, and opened in 1906.

Exterior architecture

Because of the slope of the site, which falls away sharply to the south, the building has two

basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...

levels creating five visible storeys at the rear, while only three storeys are visible at the front. The north front of the building is a blend of

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

and

Modern Movement Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

styles, designed to harmonise with the adjoining Abbey Gatehouse. The rear facades to the south and east are in a plainer style, with vertical features such as towers and flat

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es being used to frame the great mass of the building. Holden's approach to handling large volumes, of which his design for the Library was one of the most highly regarded examples, made him influential within the Modern Movement. For this he has been compared with his contemporary

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...

. A western

extension Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (proof theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that ...

was built in 1967, in a design sympathetic to the original building.

Interior architecture

In contrast to the exterior, the interior is largely Neoclassical, with extensive use being made of round-arched

vaulting In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

. The

entrance hall The Entrance Hall (also called the Grand Foyer) is the primary and formal entrance to the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. The room is rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 31 by 44 feet. ...

, which is at the eastern end of the north front, has vaulting faced in turquoise glass

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

. A variety of different kinds of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

is used for the flooring and other facings in the entrance hall and for the main staircase. The ground floor next to the entrance hall contains the Lending Library. Above it is the Reference Library Reading Room, whose space includes the first floor and two tiers of galleries. It is tunnel vaulted, with glass above. Next to the Reading Room is the Bristol Room, which contains antique furniture and fittings brought from the old reading room in King Street, including an ornate

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

overmantel The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ...

carved by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London church ...

. The building's size created a need to transmit natural light throughout the interior. Holden made extensive use of

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History O ...

s, glass screens and glass-block roof and floor panels.

References

External links

Bristol Central Library
{{Coord, 51, 27, 06, N, 2, 36, 09, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Library buildings completed in 1906 Public libraries in Bristol Grade I listed library buildings Grade I listed buildings in Bristol Tudor Revival architecture in England Charles Holden buildings 1906 establishments in England

Construction

Exterior architecture

Interior architecture

See also

References

External links