Our Lady’s R.C. High School, Manchester
Designing a modern, dynamic library and learning centre for a brand-new secondary school in Manchester
Summary
Our Lady’s R.C High School is a new-build secondary school in Manchester catering for over 900 pupils aged 11 to 16. Before its official opening in 2022, BookSpace was invited by teachers Claire Ryan and Hannah Woosey to put forward a design for the new school library.
The brief
One of the main objectives was to create a multi-purpose library and learning space with a number of zones that could be used for different purposes. As the new library was going to be used as an additional teaching space, the layout needed to accommodate enough tables and chairs for a whole class. The school wanted to create areas for group work, independent research and somewhere with sofas and armchairs where pupils could relax and enjoy reading. In addition to the main school library, Claire and Hannah wanted to use an adjacent room to house their non-fiction books and develop an outdoor reading space using the balcony area.
The second priority for the new space was to ensure that the library furniture could be adapted to hold more books as the collection grew.
“The school plan was to increase the book capacity in the library over time, so it was important that the furniture was flexible enough to allow for this. For this reason, mobile bookcases which can be easily re-positioned were used mid-floor and the central area included tables that can be moved elsewhere to make room for additional book display and storage when needed.” says BookSpace designer, Jonathan Turner.
The result
The final design included many of BookSpace’s signature pieces, including a bespoke Librarian Desk with storage, outdoor benches, bar-height desks and wall-mounted book display. Positioning library shelving mid-floor was the perfect solution for zoning the library. This enabled classes to take place in the heart of the space but also allow students to use the quiet reading areas and study spaces around the perimeter at the same time.
The library opened in January 2023 and the response from staff and students has been very positive.
“Students were openly impressed when the library first opened, they enjoyed how open and bright the space was and how much room there was for them to sit and use the space” explains Librarian, Merryn Coles.
