Freiburg, 2015.
The number of study spaces available was to be vastly increased, and a much more diversified and differentiated study and research environment planned. Quiet study spaces in the reading rooms and the access to the open stacks on the one hand were to be kept strictly separate from the necessarily louder and livelier group work areas and learning lounges (called “Parlatorium”) on the other.
The new building was also required to be capable of operating 24/7 and to provide an RFID-driven self-service infrastructure backed by a corresponding media transport system. At the same time, the area for the open stacks was to be increased by the conversion of the erstwhile underground car park. Last but not least, the building had to provide enough capacity to absorb one of the larger faculty libraries.