On the run up to the Stirling Prize, 2016, The Architect’s Journal takes a look into the six nominated buildings, with interviews from the architects.
At the heart of Oxford’s historic core, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s 1940s, Grade II listed, New Bodleian Library (now known as the Weston Library) is a vital resource for academic research. In 2006, WilkinsonEyre was appointed to refurbish the library as a new cultural and intellectual landmark. The idea was to open up the building to allow more public access and engagement in the activities happening inside. This included the creation of new spaces for a programme of exhibitions and seminars drawing on the extraordinary resources of the Bodleian’s collections.
The design works with, rather than against, Scott’s robust design, reinvigorating the space with an improved circulation diagram – for both book retrieval and user movement – and creating a number of contemporary interventions, including a spectacular reading room at roof level.
RIBAスターリング賞2016のノミネート作品の一つ、ウィルキンソン・エア・アーキテクツが設計したオックスフォードの「ウエストン図書館」。
