Library Details
Basic Information
Location/Address
Project Story
The Central Library of Ghent University, designed by Henry van de Velde in the 1930s, is being restored and geared to the current requirements of library use and conservation. To this end, an entrance will be built next to the HIKO, which is part of the original complex, that will generate a new sequence of spaces around the inner garden. This includes among other things a café/reading room, a canopied terrace (which Van de Velde had actually designed) and workspaces for handling digital data individually or in groups. Together with the necessary technical modifications, and making the observation room at the top of the tower fully accessible, this clear-up will restore the building’s dignity as a place for study and reading.
Restoration of the Central Library of Ghent University
Ghent. Werk, bauen + wohnen, 7/8 (2011)
Emerging Architecture: The Architectural Review. Issue 1456, November 2018
Architecture in Belgium. A + 276 Building sites. February / March 2019
New Project Data
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Robbrecht en Daem architecten - www.robbrechtendaem.com
Additional Features
An entrance will be built next to the HIKO, which is part of the original complex, that will generate a new sequence of spaces around the inner garden. This includes among other things a café/reading room, a canopied terrace (which Van de Velde had actually designed) and workspaces for handling digital data individually or in groups.
Together with the necessary technical modifications, and making the observation room at the top of the tower fully accessible, this clear-up will restore the building’s dignity as a place for study and reading.