Daniela Hislop CEO of the Design Concept's global perspective on library design

With 25 years of international experience and a track record of prestigious library designs, CEO Daniela Hislop is very proud of the stunning interiors The Design Concept’s award-winning team has produced under her leadership.

She believes: “The future of libraries is already happening. It’s bold, inclusive and beautiful - and it’s time to pay attention.” Here’s her perspective on global trends in library design:

While many are still debating shelving and signage, we are designing for people. Libraries around the world are turning into sensory playgrounds, creative sanctuaries, and community hubs that people actually want to hang out in.

Think reading forests in Denmark. Rooftop learning gardens in Singapore and Dubai. Story pods, maker labs, and spaces where every corner invites curiosity not conformity.

Some still picture libraries as silent, serious places, shelves packed tight, the smell of paper, a stern “Shhh” floating in the air. But across the globe, something entirely different is happening.

From London, Dubai, Glasgow, Manchester to Stockholm, library design is being reimagined not just as a change in furniture or layout, but as a cultural shift. Libraries are becoming sensory spaces, social hubs, playgrounds for ideas. They are places where you can hear birdsong in the walls or read under a man-made canopy of trees - where teenagers lounge on staircases-turned-reading-nests, and toddlers learn through touch, sound, and colour before they can even read.

Let us open your eyes to what the rest of the world is doing - because these aren’t just pretty interiors, they’re signals of what’s possible when we design for people, not just for books. Libraries are drawing inspiration from the landscape, creating “reading forests” for children that encourage play, exploration, and connection.

Libraries around the world are reimagining what it means to be a place of learning, wonder, and community. Drawing inspiration from natural landscapes, some have begun designing immersive “reading forests” for children - lush, playful environments where young minds can explore stories through movement, imagination, and curiosity. These spaces go beyond bookshelves. They’re alive with colour, texture, and sensory experiences that invite children to play, discover, and connect both with stories and with each other.

In the Netherlands, libraries are pushing the boundaries of traditional architecture. With open-plan layouts, striking modern designs, and multi-use spaces, these buildings are intentionally crafted to invite people in and encourage them to stay. They’re not just places to borrow books, but social hubs where community members of all ages can gather, talk, collaborate, and learn together. The space itself becomes a storyteller, signalling openness, inclusion, and shared ownership.

Meanwhile, in Colombia, libraries have taken to the mountains and rural trails, carried on the backs of donkeys. These mobile libraries are part practical solution, part symbol of resilience bringing books, learning materials, and joy to children in some of the country’s most remote and underserved regions. It's a powerful reminder that access to stories should never be limited by geography or infrastructure.

That library design can be radically inclusive, not just in who is welcomed, but in how space is imagined, built, and used. That storytelling doesn’t start with the first page of a book, but with the environment that surrounds it - the light, the layout, the sense of safety and possibility. And perhaps most importantly, that by looking beyond our borders and embracing ideas from other cultures and contexts, we open ourselves up to transformative possibilities right here at home.

Libraries are about belonging and when we design for connection, creativity, and community, we make space for everyone to find their story.

Don’t just look, see. Explore, be inspired, and rethink what a library could be. Because the world is full of brilliant ideas. Let’s not miss them.