Peckham Library is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and community building situated in Peckham in south-east

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was designed by Alsop and Störmer,Peckham Library : Architecture Information
e-architect.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-12. engineered by AKT II and won the

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

for Architecture in 2000.Peckham Library & Media Centre
Open University website. Retrieved 2011-11-12. It is a striking building best imagined as an inverted capital letter 'L', with the upper part supported by thin steel pillars set at apparently random angles. The exterior is clad with pre-patinated copper. The Stirling prize judges were impressed with the building's approach. Alsop has taken the plan footprint of a conventional library and elevated it to create a public space beneath the building and to remove the quiet reading space from street level noise. The remaining, supporting buildings on the ground and 1st floors house the information and media centre. The building is five floors in total, with the library service taking up the fourth floor. The library opened to the public on March 8, 2000, with an official opening by

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strateg ...

, Chris Smith, on May 15, 2000. The building attracted 500,000 visitors in its first year of opening in the wake of its receipt of the prize. This dropped to approximately 420,000 for 2006.

Images

Image:2005-07-11 - United Kingdom - England - London - Peckham - Peckham Library.jpg, The north facing rear facade of the building. Image:Peckham library exterior 1.jpg, Exterior Image:Peckham library columns.jpg, View showing the diagonal columns Image:Peckham library meeting room lights.jpg, Interior view of meeting room pod Image:Peckham library pod underside.jpg, Main library space Image:Peckham library pod underside2.jpg, Main library space Image:Peckham library central pod.jpg, View of central pod

References

External links

Peckham Library
on Southwark Council site

architecture page on Open University site
Peckham Library, London, UK
guide on BBC h2g2 site {{Authority control Library buildings completed in 2000 Libraries in the London Borough of Southwark Public libraries in London Will Alsop buildings

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...