- SCONUL 2016 Library Design Awards
- The SCONUL Library Design Awards will be taking place in 2016. The awards aim to showcase and celebrate the very best in recent UK academic library design.
- 21 Dec 2015
2015 News
Designing Libraries News Archive 2015
- A space for reading
- Ashburnham Community School gets a library space, thanks to the joint efforts of a charity, a book supplier and a library design company.
- 17 Dec 2015
- Hull library transformation now complete
- The £28m transformation of the University of Hull's Brynmor Jones Library has now been completed, providing a welcoming learning space for students.
- 14 Dec 2015
- Major upgrade for college library
- A modern styling transforms the learning environment for a sixth form college and university centre.
- 11 Dec 2015
- Post-occupancy evaluation of library buildings
- A new book from IFLA tackles the subject of post-occupancy evaluation, an essential step in the creation of effective library spaces, often overlooked.
- 02 Dec 2015
- Warrington plans £5m heritage hub
- Warrington is seeking to expand its offer of library and heritage services with a £5m Heritage Hub for the town centre.
- 01 Dec 2015
- Library extension built from railway sleepers
- A public library in Spain, housed in a former railway station, has been extended using a configuration of recycled railway sleepers.
- 30 Nov 2015
- School library redesign wins readers
- A year on, following a complete refit of the library at St Augustine's primary school, more children than ever are enjoying reading.
- 06 Nov 2015
- What libraries should look like
- Is Scandinavia setting the trend? A story from Germany traces the influence of new thinking about the future of libraries and how they are changing lives.
- 05 Nov 2015
- Scottish Poetry Library reopens
- The library, housing the world's largest collection of Scottish poetry, has reopened following a complete makeover.
- 02 Nov 2015
- Winners of the SLA Inspiration Award announced
- This year two outstanding school libraries won the School Library Association Inspiration Award: All Saints, Stibbard and Valley Park School, Maidstone.
- 09 Oct 2015
- Library and cultural hub wins design award
- Carr Cotter & Naessens Architects are the winners in the WAN (World Architecture News) Civic Buildings Award 2015 for the dlrLexicon building, Dun Laoghaire.
- 22 Sept 2015
- Mecanoo to lead renovation of New York Public Library
- Mecanoo, the Dutch firm who designed the Library of Birmingham, will replace Foster + Partners to lead the renovation.
- 21 Sept 2015
- Herning Public Library wins best renovation prize
- The Danish prize has been awarded to the extensive and impressive renovation of an old warehouse into a modern library to create a common cultural centre.
- 16 Sept 2015
- Edinburgh in for design award
- The refurbishment of Edinburgh Central Library's music and children's areas is a finalist in the Intelligent Design category of the SBID Design Awards.
- 15 Sept 2015
- Willesden Green library opens
- The new library, which features an exhibition space, a museum, archives and a performance space, officially opened on Saturday 12 September 2015.
- 14 Sept 2015
- New town centre library for Stafford
- People in Stafford are enjoying a brand new modern library bringing innovation, information, culture and learning resources to the town.
- 10 Sept 2015
- Herefordshire Archive opens with new racking solution
- The new £8.1m building housing Herefordshire Archive and Records Centre opened last month with storage and access facilities which meet national standards.
- 08 Sept 2015
- Calculating the growth of collections and spaces
- An article by Ricky Espinosa in American Libraries provides calculations for assessing the space needed for collections growth when planning a library move.
- 07 Sept 2015
- Library Design Showcase
- 'American Libraries' has published its 2015 showcase of the best new library buildings and renovations, celebrating the past and adapting to the present.
- 04 Sept 2015
- The reading dome
- Design studio Anagrama has created a lattice-work domed reading space for a new library in Mexico.
- 03 Sept 2015
- Post-war public library buildings listed
- Nine post-war library buildings in England have been added to the National Heritage List for England, including the British Library, St Pancras.
- 24 Aug 2015
- The best new public library in the world
- Denmark has named the Kista Public Library in Stockholm as the year's best new public library in the Systematic Public Library of the Year Award 2015.
- 18 Aug 2015
- Medical library opens without books
- The University of Michigan's $55m renovation of the Taubman Health Sciences Library brings a range of new spaces and functions, but no books.
- 07 Aug 2015
- Scandinavia's largest library
- Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has completed a 30,000 square metre library and Urban Mediaspace, known as Dokk1, in Aarhus, Denmark.
- 22 Jul 2015
- Leeds Laidlaw Library opens
- Chancellor Melvyn Bragg opens the £26m University of Leeds library, a 'stimulating and flexible space' for its 31,000 students.
- 13 Jul 2015
- School library Inspiration Award 2015 shortlist
- The SLA in conjunction with Gresswell and LFC has announced the shortlist for the SLA School Library Inspiration Award 2015.
- 09 Jul 2015
- The achievements of Australia's public libraries
- The Australian Public Library Alliance has published a survey of its achievements over the past five years.
- 30 Jun 2015
- Libraries without walls
- Hamilton Wilson, Education Specialist, Wilson Architects, shares his insights into trends in education architecture and how to design a 21st century library.
- 29 Jun 2015
- New Plymouth Central Library
- Public consultation is underway on the planned interior and the range of services to be offered by the proposed new Central Library in Plymouth.
- 25 Jun 2015
- A bright and happy library
- Bancroft's Prep School in Woodford Green, Essex, is a great example of how a small space and a small budget are no barrier to high quality interior design.
- 23 Jun 2015
- Public library with indoor garden
- An innovative public library with indoor garden has opened in historic Schiedam, The Netherlands, and will be open seven days a week.
- 22 Jun 2015
- Pork Pie library reopens
- A new community hub based at a landmark Leicester City library officially opened on June 15th.
- 18 Jun 2015
- Billingham Library gets building excellence award
- Billingham's new £2.7 million Library and Customer Service Centre has won a prestigious design award.
- 17 Jun 2015
- Canadian public library wins building award
- LGA Architectural Partners wins Ontario Library Association Library Building Award for their transformational redesign of the Kitchener Public Library.
- 10 Jun 2015
- Rethinking the staff workplace
- Ensuring that libraries are also great places for staff to work in begins with understanding how libraries are changing to address new user needs.
- 08 Jun 2015
- Steel-clad library for Oxford college
- Zaha Hadid Architects has completed a new £11 million building for the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, Oxford.
- 01 Jun 2015
- Fiction library for primary school
- Courthouse Green Primary School in Coventry has a brand-new key stage 2 fiction library - a bright, colourful, comfortable space in which to read.
- 28 May 2015
- The library on the beach
- A Chinese architect has created what must be one of the world's quietest reading spaces, on a beach outside the city of Qinhuangdao.
- 18 May 2015
- Northants library opens in community hub
- The new community building, The Forum, at the heart of Towcester, Northamptonshire, is now open and home to a new library and a hub of services.
- 08 May 2015
- Library wins Development of the Year award
- Days after the handover to Renfrew Council, Johnstone Town Hall was named Development of the Year (Public Buildings)' at the Scottish Property Awards.
- 07 May 2015
- Libraries as the 'third place'
- A Guardian feature on France's public libraries describes the changing social role of libraries as the 'third place' next to home and workplace.
- 04 May 2015
- Reinventing the modern library
- Slate profiles the six winners of the AIA/ALA Library Building Awards - a collaboration between the American Institute of Architects and the ALA.
- 27 Apr 2015
- Public Library of the Year Award
- The hunt is once again on to discover the world's best public library.
- 20 Apr 2015
- China Centre gets new mobile shelving
- Ecospace's shelving has been installed in the Bodleian K B Chen Library at The Dickson Poon University of Oxford China Centre Building.
- 13 Apr 2015
- Refurbishment for French Institute
- Bisset Adams Architects have recently refurbished La Mediath�que at the French Institute in South Kensington, London.
- 09 Apr 2015
- Wakefield's dementia-friendly library
- FG Library has completed the refurbishment of Sandal Library in Wakefield, West Yorks, believed to be the first fully dementia-friendly library in the UK.
- 24 Mar 2015
- Archive is a gateway to history
- The City of York's new refurbished Archive has reopened, offering an accessible and inspirational archive experience for visitors as a �Gateway to History'.
- 23 Mar 2015
- Bodleian's Weston Library opens
- Oxford's Bodleian opens to the public following an £80m transformation of the Weston Library where scholarship, research, conservation and digitisation meet.
- 21 Mar 2015
- Library and community hub for South Tyneside
- South Tyneside's Hebburn Central will host a new library with state-of-the-art technology, a stock of 15,000 books, digitised materials and gaming areas.
- 19 Mar 2015
- The new libraries of Singapore
- A photo essay on the new libraries of Singapore provides an opportunity to see how libraries are retaining their relevance in the digital information age.
- 16 Mar 2015
- Mapping mobile shelving in Liverpool
- End panels printed with a 1970's street map of Liverpool are a feature of one of three mobile shelving installations by Ecospace at Liverpool University.
- 12 Mar 2015
- The Word is out in South Shields
- The first design concepts have been released for the planned new library and digital media centre in South Shields, to be called 'The Word'.
- 05 Mar 2015
- A strategic vision for library and learning spaces
- Heriot-Watt University has developed a strategic vision for the Edinburgh Campus library that will meet the changing demands of its users.
- 16 Feb 2015
- Learning Spaces database released
- Media University Stuttgart, Germany, has released the largest international database on learning space development.
- 12 Feb 2015
- New library opens in Milton Keynes
- Kingston Library, Milton Keynes, has relocated and officially opened in a purpose-built new building in the heart of the Kingston Centre shopping area.
- 02 Feb 2015
- Barnsley's Central Library design unveiled
- The futuristic design for Barnsley's brand new central library, part of the town's £50 million redevelopment, has been unveiled.
- 21 Jan 2015
- Construction starts on new Engineering and Science Library
- The University of Nottingham's new Engineering and Science Library is the latest landmark development to be undertaken on the University Park.
- 19 Jan 2015
- School libraries as hubs of learning
- The Guardian Teacher Network has published a feature on the design of school library spaces in the digital information age, where books and technology meet.
- 15 Jan 2015
- Design thinking toolkit for libraries
- A new Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries has been published and is free to download and use. It puts people and ideas at the centre of its methodology.
- 14 Jan 2015
- Designing shelving for access
- The newly refurbished Elaine Thomas Library on the University for the Creative Arts Farnham Campus is designed to integrate the needs of disabled students.
- 06 Jan 2015
- Billingham library opens
- Stockton's new build £2.7m library and council customer service centre opens today.
- 05 Jan 2015