Peckham Library

Library in Peckham, London

51°28′28″N 0°04′09″W / 51.47433°N 0.06930°W / 51.47433; -0.06930TypePublic LibraryPart ofSouthwark LibrariesCollection size40,848

CountryUnited Kingdom

OperatorSouthwark London Borough Council

Websitehttps://www.southwark.gov.uk/libraries Map

[edit on Wikidata]

Winner of the Stirling Prize for Architecture

Peckham Library is a library and community building situated in Peckham in south-east London, United Kingdom. It was designed by Alsop and Störmer,^[1] engineered by AKT II and won the Stirling Prize for Architecture in 2000.^[2]

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.^[1]^[3]

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.^{[citation needed]} The building has five floors in total, with the library service taking up the fourth floor.^[3]

The library opened to the public on 8 March 2000, with an official opening by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith, on 15 May 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.^{[citation needed]}

SuperC [de], a student service centre building at the RWTH Aachen in Germany was built in 2006, which has been compared to Peckham Library with a similar L design.^{[citation needed]}

Images

The north facing rear facade of the building.
Exterior
View showing the diagonal columns
Interior view of meeting room pod
Main library space
Main library space
View of central pod
Similarly shaped building named SuperC [de] at RWTH Aachen, Germany

References

^ ^a ^b Peckham Library : Architecture Information, e-architect.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ Peckham Library & Media Centre, Open University website. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ ^a ^b Thornton, Victoria (2012). Open house London : an exclusive glimpse inside 100 of the most extraordinary buildings in London. London: Ebury. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-09-194362-2. OCLC 800851973.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peckham Library.

Peckham Library on Southwark Council site
Peckham Library & Media Centre architecture page on Open University site
Peckham Library, London, UK guide on BBC h2g2 site

Libraries and archives in London

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and archives

National	British Library British Museum Imperial War Museum National Gallery National Poetry Library Natural History Museum Parliamentary Archives Science Museum (Dana Research Centre and Library) The National Archives Victoria and Albert Museum (National Art Library)
Council	Barking and Dagenham (Valence House Museum) Barnet (East Finchley Library) Brent (Kensal Rise Library, The Library at Willesden Green) City of London (Artizan Street Library, Barbican Library, Guildhall Library, London Metropolitan Archives, Shoe Lane Library) City of Westminster (Westminster Reference Library) Camden (Swiss Cottage Library) Croydon (Ashburton Library, Croydon Central Library, New Addington Library, South Norwood Library, Upper Norwood Library) Haringey (Muswell Hill Library) Hillingdon (Manor Farm) Islington (Finsbury Library, Islington Local History Centre) Kensington and Chelsea (Kensington Central Library) Lambeth (Brixton Library, Carnegie Library, Durning Library, Lambeth Archives, Minet Library, Streatham Library, Upper Norwood Library) Merton (Mitcham Library) Southwark (Dulwich Library, John Harvard Library, Peckham Library) Tower Hamlets (Idea Store) Wandsworth (Battersea Central Library, Putney Library)

National

British Library
British Museum
Imperial War Museum
National Gallery
National Poetry Library
Natural History Museum
Parliamentary Archives
Science Museum (Dana Research Centre and Library)
The National Archives
Victoria and Albert Museum (National Art Library)

Council

Barking and Dagenham (Valence House Museum)
Barnet (East Finchley Library)
Brent (Kensal Rise Library, The Library at Willesden Green)
City of London (Artizan Street Library, Barbican Library, Guildhall Library, London Metropolitan Archives, Shoe Lane Library)
City of Westminster (Westminster Reference Library)
Camden (Swiss Cottage Library)
Croydon (Ashburton Library, Croydon Central Library, New Addington Library, South Norwood Library, Upper Norwood Library)
Haringey (Muswell Hill Library)
Hillingdon (Manor Farm)
Islington (Finsbury Library, Islington Local History Centre)
Kensington and Chelsea (Kensington Central Library)
Lambeth (Brixton Library, Carnegie Library, Durning Library, Lambeth Archives, Minet Library, Streatham Library, Upper Norwood Library)
Merton (Mitcham Library)
Southwark (Dulwich Library, John Harvard Library, Peckham Library)
Tower Hamlets (Idea Store)
Wandsworth (Battersea Central Library, Putney Library)

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