project: SKO UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OSIJEK
client: University J.J. Strossmayer in Osijek
type: public
location: Osijek, Croatia
surface: 13400 m2
date: 01.11.2012
status: competition entry
project team: SANGRAD architects + AVP_arhitekti
The site where the project is located was practically defined by the program thus the proposal filled almost entirely its surface. Following several analysis of different positions for the library, the concept to set the main entrance was set from the most opened area (a green surface of a former sports arena on the east of the plot) thus it became the main square in front of the library. On the west side, a secondary access was generated by the program guidelines for the functionality of the congress area so it could work independently from the main library.
According to the future main promenade located on the southern part of the plot, and which will run through the whole campus, the library opens itself on the ground floor with a glass facade and a large loggia through the upper floors to establish a physical and visual contact. The technical spaces and services access was defined on the northern part.
The library’s space, just like any other architectural form that is in some way subordinate to utilitarian considerations, was thought with different approaches. The solution emerged from the given program (size of the basement) and spatial sequences that were generated with the character of a historical Osijek block structure (the fortress on the Upper and Lower Town). Thus, the library becomes a building-block. The library building is programmatically and functionally determined by the central patio and inside was situated the multifunctional hall which formally and metaphorically became the heart of the project .The importance of the proposal’s orientation is crucial; for the idea is to design an energy efficient library (this was one of the starting components in the design). The building tilts its roof towards the south for the accommodation of solar panel. The idea is that by the use of green loggias, clean energy and a pleasant microclimate on outdoor spaces (patio), the library becomes a place for cultural enrichment and at the same time, relaxation.
A library is a very specific spatial structure which is further defined by its functional scheme that belongs to this type of building, so in order to respond to its functionality, the idea was to create spacious rooms with flexible layout of furniture, with a touch of introversion, concentration, targeted and carefully located and directed lightning, diffuse and cool, with a quiet and partially conservative atmosphere.
The external skin is solved in two layers. The first layer is a neutral, metallic, porous membrane that covers the outer contour of the continuous structure (except the main entrance and the recessed loggias). This outer skin also works as a protective film against the solar insulation, but at the same time makes it possible to have visual contact with the outside. The second layer makes multilayered, composite insulating glass. The interior space is completely open and thanks to the glass façade that filters the vistas from the outside toward the inner patio. The facade of the multifunctional hall within the patio is the same as the outer shell; with the second layer being a semi gloss metalized surface.
