A planning application for the University of Aberdeen’s major flagship library project worth £57 million, which will consolidate the institution’s position as a leader among world universities, is being submitted later this week (Wednesday, August 15) to Aberdeen City Council.
That Aberdeen has opted to use the Danish architects, schmidt hammer lassen who created the famous Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen, demonstrates the University's resolve to create a great modern building to match the splendour of its 500 year old campus. The new library is one of the biggest and most important cultural projects undertaken in Scotland in recent years.
The University has been working closely with the design team to deliver a building which will meet the needs of all of the University, and which will also open up the possibility of much greater public access to our collections. The work to date has delivered a design which has been positively received both within and outwith the University. The institution is continuing to work with the design team, reviewing the scope and phasing of the project to ensure its effective delivery within the financial limits approved by Court, the University's governing body.
The project will provide facilities for the institution's 14,000 student community, replacing the existing Queen Mother Library which was built when the University had only 5,000 students on campus. The new Library will be a showcase for a 200,000 strong collection of historic books and over 4,000 archival collections - that will make Aberdeen an international centre for the humanities.
"The practical case for the new Library is stark, the architectural vision for it is a glittering one. The £57 million library will stand as one of the most significant new Scottish public buildings of the last hundred years. An international landmark, it will echo the impact of ideas from Aberdeen in distant places. It will represent our past, present and future, our continuing role as intellectual pioneers, here at the northern frontiers of Europe. It will be a cultural icon of which not only our scholars and students but all of the people of Scotland can be proud."
The Queen Mother Library will be demolished on completion of the new facility and the new library will be located adjacent to the existing QML on the King's College campus. Securing investment from funding bodies and individual donors worldwide is an integral part of taking the development forward and will continue a tradition of philanthropic support which has made the University what it is today.
Schmidt hammer lassen, from Aarhus, has an impressive portfolio of outstanding cultural and civic buildings, including the Royal Library in Copenhagen. The team was selected for the Aberdeen project following an international competition which challenged architects across the world to create a library design for the 21st century and beyond.
The new library is not for the University alone. It will be an inviting building for the local community and everyone who visits, lives and works in the North-east.
Morten Schmidt, Principal Project Partner with schmidt hammer lassen said: "The new library will comprise nine floors and be a glittering building with resonances of the north. An inviting, finely landscaped public square will draw the visitor into a spacious ground floor plaza with luminous views up through an open atrium. These will connect the lively public spaces of the café, exhibition and event area with the monumental foundation of our historic collections below, and the bookstacks and study areas of the floors above. Views over the chapel tower, the city and coastline will connect the library with the community it serves."
"The new library will also enable us to preserve and vigorously to promote our outstanding heritage of unique historic collections, including the private library of our founder, Bishop Elphinstone, and to acquire further national treasures, which we know will attract interest from around the world."
A major discussion on the future of libraries, which is being hosted by the University, is taking place at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Libraries have preserved our words, culture and intellectual heritage for centuries. But important questions remain about their role in the modern world of the internet, Google and digitalisation. How, for example, will they serve the communities of the future? And what do they mean to writers and their work?
Margaret Atwood, the Canadian novelist, and John Sutherland, the former chair of the Booker Prize, will tackle all these and other questions at The Future of Libraries event being held on Wednesday, August 15. The Edinburgh debate will also offer the opportunity to hear more about the plans for Aberdeen's new library at King's College.
Professor Gane added: "We are delighted to announce that we have joined forces with the Edinburgh International Book Festival for the first time to present such a major and important discussion. The event will provide the opportunity to hear more about the new library for King's, one of the most significant and important public commissions in Scotland.
"It's a testament to the importance of the project that such esteemed writers as Margaret Atwood and John Sutherland have agreed to take part in a discussion that will excite the interest of all book-lovers."
The Future of Libraries event takes place on Wednesday at the RBS Main Theatre, Charlotte Square Gardens, Charlotte Square Gardens at 4.30pm. For more information on the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme visit: www.edbookfest.co.uk