The Sir Duncan Rice Library is the main
academic library for the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
. It was designed by
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and completed in 2011. It is named after
Duncan Rice
Sir Charles Duncan Rice (20 October 1942 – 3 February 2022) was a Scottish academic who was Principal of the University of Aberdeen from September 1996 to 1 April 2010. He previously served at New York University in the United States, as Dea ...
, a previous Principal of the university. The cube-shaped building can be seen prominently from the entire campus and much of the city. It is a seven-storey tower, clad in zebra-like jagged stripes of white and clear glass. The building has a floorspace of 15,500 square metres. It houses several of the University's historic collections, including more than a quarter of a million ancient and priceless books and manuscripts that have been collected over five centuries since the University's foundation. There is also public exhibition space. The library replaced the smaller Queen Mother Library as the university's main library.
History
The Queen Mother Library had been the university's main library since 1965. The university conducted a restricted international design competition for the new library in 2005.
The Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects were successful. The project was the largest capital fundraising project ever undertaken by the university. Plans were unveiled to the public in 2007.
Construction of the new library building started in August 2009.
Caithness Stone Industries was awarded the contract to provide stone for the construction. A topping-out ceremony took place in October 2010. The building was completed in September 2011 and was initially known simply as the Aberdeen University New Library.
On 21 September 2012, the building's name was changed to honour Duncan Rice, who had been Principal of the university 1990–2006, during the time that the project was conceived and the funds were raised. The library was then officially opened by
the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
on 24 September 2012. In the first year there had been 700,000 visitors.
Design
The building sits on a base of Scottish stone.
The ground floor is double-height with seven floors above. The building is clad in zebra-like jagged stripes of white and clear glass.
In the interior void spaces are located centrally.
Contrasting with the geometric exterior, the central atrium formed by the void spaces has an organic form, shifting in location across the levels.
Across the levels above the ground there are 1,200 reading spaces. Above ground there are 13 km of shelving to hold 400,000 books.
The building is rated as
BREEAM
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...
Excellent.
Features that help it achieve this include a system to harvest rainwater to use for flushing toilets, photovoltaic cells on the roof and programmed timers to control the use of fluorescent lighting.
[
Outside the library, ''Evolutionary Loop 517'', a 6.25-metre bronze sculpture by ]Nasser Azam
Nasser Azam (born 1963, in Jhelum, Pakistan) is a British contemporary artist, living and working in London.
Biography
Nasser Azam was born in Jhelum, Pakistan in 1963, and moved to London with his parents when he was 7 years old (1970). He be ...
, was unveiled on 27 May 2012.
Other university libraries are located in Kings College (Divinity Library), the Taylor Building on the same campus (for law books and materials) and at Foresterhill (for medicine and medical sciences). The university's library service (i.e. including all libraries) holds over one million books.
Awards
In 2012 the building was given the Aberdeen Civic Society Award. In 2013 it picked up an RIAS award and was also nominated for the 2013 RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award All types of architectural projects in Scotland are eligible, including new-build, regeneration, restoration, extensions and interiors.
List of winners and nominees
2022
Shortlist
* Forth Valley College – Falkirk Campus, Falkirk by Reiach ...
. It won a Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
National Award in 2013.
In April 2014, the Mother Nature Network
Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) was a website with news and information related to sustainability, health, lifestyle, technology, money, food, home, and family. Founded in 2009 by former marketing executive Joel Babbit and Rolling Stones keyboar ...
included it in a feature about the most beautiful libraries in the world.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2011 establishments in Scotland
Academic libraries in Scotland
Libraries established in 2011
Library buildings completed in 2011
University of Aberdeen
Buildings and structures in Aberdeen