Peckham Library is a
library and community building situated in
Peckham
Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720.
History
"Peckham" is a Saxon p ...
in south-east
London. It was designed by
Alsop and Störmer,
[Peckham Library : Architecture Information](_blank)
e-architect.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-12. engineered by
AKT II
AKT II is a London based firm of structural, civil and transportation engineering consultants. It was founded as Adams Kara Taylor in 1996 by Hanif Kara, Albert Williamson-Taylor (an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects s ...
and won the
Stirling Prize for Architecture in 2000.
[Peckham Library & Media Centre](_blank)
Open University website. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
It is a striking building best imagined as 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 were impressed with 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 is five floors in total, with the library service taking up the fourth floor.
The library opened to the public on March 8, 2000, with an official opening by
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,
Chris Smith, on May 15, 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.
Images
Image:2005-07-11 - United Kingdom - England - London - Peckham - Peckham Library.jpg, The north facing rear facade 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
References
External links
Peckham Libraryon Southwark Council site
architecture page on Open University site
Peckham Library, London, UKguide 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