Public Library, Dornbirn (AT)
New building
Client: City of Dornbirn
Location: A-6850 Dornbirn, Schulgasse 44
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller with Christian Schmoelz
Competition: 2015, 1. prize
Construction: 2018 – 2019
Area: 1,610 m²
Programme: Library for up to 100,000 books, media library, games library, makerspace, event hall, café
Photos: Aldo Amoretti, Albrecht I. Schnabel
Team
Christopher Braun (Project management), Elvira Kinzner, Peter Nussbaumer, Michael Sohm
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics: gbd, Dornbirn
Building services: Messner, Dornbirn
Building physics: Weithas, Hard
Electrics: Hecht, Rankweil
Soil mechanics: 3P Geotechnik, Bregenz
Landscape: Balliana Schubert, Zurich
Master builders: Wilhelm+Mayer Bau, Götzis; Rümmele Bau, Dornbirn
Awards
- Design Educates Award , Award
- Hypo Bauherrenpreis, Award
- Archello Best Project of 2020, Award
Public living room for curious people
The library of the city of Dornbirn is a place of exchange, encounters and intergenerational learning. As a kind of public living room, it is intended to promote reading and language skills, the exploration of digital search methods and new forms of communication. Curious people with similar goals meet here and can immerse themselves in the material or engage in dialogue with one another.
Set in a park, the oval pavilion with a façade of 8,000 stylised ceramic books is an independent form and stands in stark contrast to the rectangular buildings in the surrounding area. The starting point for the design idea was a beaten path that ran diagonally across the meadow. We placed the library building on this path so that it runs lengthways through the two-storey atrium.
The Atrium
The two-storey atrium with the central lending desk is flooded with daylight through a central skylight. It can be used as a reading area or event hall for lectures, book presentations and film screenings as required. The open-access area is organised on the two levels around the atrium.
Practical detail: A screen is concealed in the staircase balustrade, while the projection technology is located opposite at the other end of the auditorium. If required, the central skylight window can be shaded.
Light-coloured oak and exposed concrete dominate the scene. All the furniture, especially the bookshelves with height-adjustable and tiltable shelves, was manufactured according to our designs.
Media skills for children
The city library creates space for new media, educational programmes and events that are designed to teach children in particular more media skills. There are separate areas for different age groups, as well as places to retreat to, e.g. the reading room, where children can also browse in comfort. In the gaming zone, children and young people can meet their friends and try out the latest electronic games.
The BI:JU youth library is designed as a lively meeting place and offers young people a wide range of services on the topics of media, safer internet and holidays abroad. They can learn, work together on projects, attend events or organise them themselves. They receive support in their search for information and with questions about smartphones or tablets.
A total of 1,200 m², spread over three floors, offer enough space for up to 100,000 books and magazines, cosy corners for reading, listening to music and trying out games, as well as offices and meeting rooms.
8,000 stylised ceramic books
A grid of 8,000 prefabricated ceramic elements is mounted in front of the glass façade at intervals of 70 centimetres. Arranged vertically and at an angle, the ornaments are reminiscent of books on shelves. At night, the light filtered through this sun protection creates the image of a space open to the park and the city.
Behind this fixed shading, which also saves on energy costs, lies a ring of fan-shaped, floor-to-ceiling wood-aluminium windows with triple glazing and additional ventilation sashes in workspaces.
