Vennesla Library and Cultural CenterHelen & Hard

CASE STUDY

Vennesla Library & Cultural Center, Norway Helen & Hard www.hha.no Photo: © Emile Ashley

The new library in Vennesla comprises a library, a café, meeting places and administrative areas, and links an existing community house and learning centre together. All main public functions have been centered into one generous space, allowing the structure – combined with furniture and mul-tiple spatial interfaces – to be visible in the interior and from the exterior. An integrated passage brings the city life into and through the building. Furthermore, the new building was open and easily accessible from the main city square, knitting together the existing urban fabric. Each end façade has been shaped according to the specific requirements of the site. At the main entrance, the rib forms the loggia, which spans the width of the entire square.

The architects further developed a rib concept to create useable hybrid structures that combine a timber construction with all technical devices and the interior. Each of the 27 ribs are pre-fabri-cated, glue-laminated timber elements, with acoustic absorbents that contain the air conditioning ducts, bent glass panes that serve as lighting covers and signs, and integrated reading niches and shelves. These ribs form the geometry of the roof, as well as the undulating orientation of the gen-erous open space, with personal study zones nestled along the perimeter.

CASE STUDY | Vennesla Library and Cultural Center

A main focus was to reduce the en-ergy needs for all three buildings through the infill concept and the use of high standard energy saving solu-tions in all new areas. A combination of structure, technical infrastructure, furniture and interior in one architec-tural design creates a strong spatial identity that meets the client’s original intent to mark the city’s cultural cen-tre. Vennesla Library and Cultural Center is the signature building for GRAPHISOFT ArchiCAD 16.

AwardStatens Byggeskikkpris

(Norwegian National Award for Good Building and Environmental Design)

Norway, 2012 Vennesla Library & Cultural Center, Norway Helen & Hard www.hha.no Photo: © Emile Ashley

Vennesla Library & Cultural Center, Norway Helen & Hard www.hha.no Photo: © Emile Ashley

The Company – Helen & Hard Helen & Hard Architects was founded in 1996 in Stavanger on the west coast of Norway by Nor-wegian architect Siv Helene Stangeland and Austrian architect Reinhard Kropf. The firm aims to creatively engage with sustainability, not only in the design of spaces, but also in the conception and organization of the design process, including construction and fabrication. Today, the company has a youthful staff of 20 from 8 different countries, with offices in both Stavanger and Oslo.

Helen and Hard designs a wide variety of projects ranging from single family houses to large public buildings, from offices and multi-family housing projects to master planning.

About GRAPHISOFT

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