Peckham Library is a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

and community building situated in

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

in south-east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom. It was designed by Alsop and Störmer,Peckham Library : Architecture Information
e-architect.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-12. engineered by AKT II and won the

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The ...

for Architecture in 2000.Peckham Library & Media Centre
Open University website. Retrieved 2011-11-12. The building is shaped like an inverted capital letter 'L', with the upper part supported by thin steel pillars set at apparently random angles. The exterior is clad with pre-patinated copper. The Stirling Prize judges approved the building's approach. Alsop has taken the plan footprint of a conventional library and elevated it to create a public space beneath the building and to remove the quiet reading space from street level noise. The remaining, supporting buildings on the ground and 1st floors house the information and media centre. The building has five floors in total, with the library service taking up the fourth floor. The library opened to the public on 8 March 2000, with an official opening by

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and po ...

, Chris Smith, on 15 May 2000. The building attracted 500,000 visitors in its first year of opening in the wake of its receipt of the prize. This dropped to approximately 420,000 for 2006. , a student service centre building at the

RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

in Germany was built in 2006, which has been compared to Peckham Library with a similar L design. The library features diverse activities for both children and adults.

Images

Image:2005-07-11 - United Kingdom - England - London - Peckham - Peckham Library.jpg, The north facing rear façade of the building. Image:Peckham library exterior 1.jpg, Exterior Image:Peckham library columns.jpg, View showing the diagonal columns Image:Peckham library meeting room lights.jpg, Interior view of meeting room pod Image:Peckham library pod underside.jpg, Main library space Image:Peckham library pod underside2.jpg, Main library space Image:Peckham library central pod.jpg, View of central pod Image:SuperC RWTH Aachen - 26.03.2017.jpg, Similarly shaped building named at

, Germany

References

External links

Peckham Library
on Southwark Council site

architecture page on Open University site
Peckham Library, London, UK
guide on BBC h2g2 site {{Authority control Library buildings completed in 2000 Libraries in the London Borough of Southwark Public libraries in London Will Alsop buildings

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...