Gothenburg University Library

Gothenburg is known as the city of knowledge, and the university library will be a new meeting place for knowledge to flourish – between academia and society – between teachers, students, researchers and visitors. The book serves as an inspiration and starting point for the design, where the volume, colors and materials can be read as a book unfolding. With a transparent, open and inviting ground floor, the university library will shine like a lighthouse in the dark, highlighting the value of knowledge.

The library is located in the heart of Gothenburg, in the university area of Näckrosen, near to many of the city’s cultural institutions and to the Faculties of Humanities and The Fine, Applied and Performing Arts. In addition to providing a new and attractive setting for knowledge-sharing and research in the Swedish university city, the building will house the existing libraries for the humanities, the arts, music and drama as well as the university archives and digital services.

The project uses the book as the source of inspiration and point of departure for the design. Both the lightness and the gravity of a book is reflected in the subtle curvature of the building’s volume and the vertical lines of its facade – much like the pages of a book, just being opened. The volume rests on an open and transparent ground floor with expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, blending in with the surrounding park, inviting both new and current users inside, and standing out as a beacon of knowledge at the top of the university area of Näckrosen.

The library will contain quiet zones for focused work as well as active areas and gathering spaces that can be used for events, exhibitions, meetings, and lectures – a distinction that is also reflected in the choice of materials. The active, open ground floor, paved in granite features a visible concrete structure, which allows for large and open spaces, while the eight upper floors, which house the library itself, are constructed of wood.

In the core of the library, Sweden’s first fully automated book depository stores and retrieves books and other media in an efficient and compact way. The public stairs of the building are situated around the depository, placing books and the knowledge contained within them at the very core of the experience of the building. Study areas and offices are located toward the facade, which ensures optimal daylight conditions and spectacular views of the park and the city.