Birmingham Central Library - Architecture

Architecture

The current Central Library building was opened on 12 January 1974, designed by John Madin, its inverted ziggurat form is a powerful example of the Brutalist style. With the Rotunda and the Alpha Tower, it is one of Birmingham's key Modernist buildings.

Madin designed Central Library as part of a large civic centre scheme on the newly created Paradise Circus site. Originally planned to be built alongside the library was a School of Music, Drama Centre, Athletic Institute, Offices, Shops, Public House, a Car Park with 500 spaces and a bus interchange. The collection of civic buildings were all to be connected by high level walkways and the network of galleries which bridge the roads. The School of Music and a public house (The Yardbird) were the only other buildings in the original plans to be built and the high level walkways were never completed.

Central Library consists of two elements, the extrovert lending library and the introvert reference library. The lending library designed for heavy use and short visits forms a wing to the reference library and is of three storeys with a curved façade facing the Town Hall. The reference library is an eight storey square block designed around an open atrium above a public square that was designed to be entered from four sides. Above the square float the cantilevered floors of the library in a distinctive inverted ziggurat formation. The designers drew inspiration for the design from Antonio Sant'Elia's drawings of Casa a gradinata and Marcel Breuer’s 1928 scheme for a hospital at Elberfeld, Indiana, another source of inspiration was Leslie Martin’s Bodleian Law Library in Oxford. It is noted that drew inspiration from the similar design for Boston City Hall although a member of Madin’s design team said they had only seen this design after the library was complete.

The central atrium is completely glazed behind deep concrete balconies, this arrangement was to make it conducive to study although there was good natural light the design was an early recognition of solar gain and the damage it can cause to books. The large windows of the reference library face inwards to reduce traffic noise from the Inner Ring road. On the outside the windows are high level narrow strips with black anodised window frames. The space below the central atrium of the library was designed to define a civic square with gardens, pools, waterfalls and fountains and to potentially form an open air exhibition space. Six pools were to be placed in and around this square of these one can still be seen on the north side of the library. Madin also designed the semi-circular amphitheatre around the Chamberlain Memorial in Chamberlain Square to frame the entrance to the library and the new civic square.

The structure is supported on a square set of twelve reinforced concrete columns, built over the Inner Ring road and the uncompleted bus interchange. The bus bays imposed a 36 ft pier spacing on the main block, and led to the standardization of a 1 ft 6in module for the design. Concrete is strongly expressed within the building, the external finishes to structural elements are unclad reinforced concrete. The walls have been ribbed and the locally graded round aggregate is exposed by abrasive blasting. The floors are made of precast concrete coffered units over which a reinforced concrete floor was cast. For the cladding Madin offered the council a choice of Portland Stone or Travertine Marble to align with the adjacent civic buildings. A third cheaper option was pre-cast concrete with Hoptonwood limestone and Derbyshire spar aggregate with white cement offered by Alan Maudsley the City Architect and accepted by the council as an economic measure.

The entrance hall is a long tall space deliberately drawing you in. The entrance hall is double height between the lending and reference libraries which is entirely glazed on the side facing the atrium and an early example of a freestanding wall made of toughened glass. Before later developments the wall allowed the entrance to be flooded with light and provided views of the Town Hall from the escalators.

The library aimed to provide open access to all 900,000 of its volumes. As no basement was possible because of the low level roads beneath the library and a tall book stack was deemed inappropriate because of the desire to keep the height of the building low so it didn’t overwhelm the surrounding buildings. Storage of the volumes is on the same level as the reading areas, this dual purpose led to the low ceiling height of three metres. Space was opened up in the reference library by opening up sections of the floors into double height reading spaces. The furniture for the library was specified by the architects with the preference for oak veneer book stacks and black linoleum floor covering.

When built central library provided approximately 250,000sq ft of floor space which made it the largest non-national municipal library in Europe. It was specifically designed for a long life and to stand hard wear and low maintenance costs.

Later Developments

The council failed to implement the original plan for Paradise Circus. Spending cuts led to the council's decision to sell off the land surrounding the library which ended the vision of a publicly financed and owned civic centre occupying the entire site.

The 200 seat Library Theatre was built between the School of Music and the reference library block in 1983-86. The theatre was a design and build scheme by Henry Boot Projects. Although the design was in Madin’s original plans Madin did not approve of the design and build method and subsequently has no involvement in the building. Chamberlain House and the Copthorne Hotel were built to the west of the library in 1985-7 by Leonard J. Multon & Partners with wedge shaped ends. To the north of the library where an Athletic Institute was originally to be built a six storey office block was built in 1988-9 by Leonard J. Multon & Partners. A footbridge connecting the library with Centenary Square was added as part of improvements to the square in 1988-89. The atrium was enclosed with a glass roof and screens by the City Architect’s Department in 1989-91. The space below was named Paradise Forum, originally proposed as an alfresco eating and entertainment area it was leased to property companies who sublet the units to shops and fast food outlet tenants. The uncompleted bus interchange became service areas for the tenants of Paradise Forum. In 1999 the whole of Paradise Forum was sold off to Argent Group.

In 1999, a member of the public was almost hit by a small piece of concrete that fell from a cladding panel. Concerns over the condition of the pre-cast cladding panels required the installation of netting to retain any further erosion. The entrance from Chamberlain Square was altered by the city’s Urban Design team in 2001 creating a lobby and eliminating the effect of the original tall entrance hall. In July 2010, the east side of the lending library was decorated by painted birds, the work of Lucy Mclauchlan.

Inside the building, the facilities have been falling into a continuing state of disrepair, as Birmingham City Council implements successive spending cuts and cost savings.

The lighting fitings, which are the original 1970s fittings set in the concrete ceiling blocks, have suffered badly from age, dirt, defective fluorescent tubes which flicker, or are dim or out altogether which makes reading conditions on the reference floors very trying.

Escalator failures, at first intermittent, have become permanent with five of the original 8 now permanently out of service. Birmingham City Council says it's not possible to repair them any further due to the age of their working parts and reversing the 'down' ones to assist in reaching upper floors is not an option due to them having run in one direction for a long period of time.

Birmingham City Council has been steadily reducing the level of service since July 2011 - they state "it's essential for the move to the Library Of Birmingham" but it's thought by many to be an excuse for cost-cutting. The Cafe on the 1st floor closed permanently on 3rd July 2011 but the area itself remained open to the public as a "Take-A-Break" area with vending machines instead of staffed counter service. The top three Reference Floors have been open only on Wednesdays - Fridays only since December 2011 (evening opening was withdrawn at the same time with the library closing at 6 pm) and the four Reference Floors (3 to 6) and the Music Library will close totally on 22 December 2012, leaving only the 1st floor Lending Library service with very limited study space on the Ground and 1st Floors.

The Central Library will close permanently on 29 June 2013 with only the Foyer, Reception and Tourist Information Counter remaining open. Birmingham City Council have stated "extra facilities and opening hours" will be provided at Handsworth, Shard End, Erdington and Small Heath libraries to compensate for this, but full details have yet to be made public.

The appearance of the library building has also been criticised, mostly due to the unsightly staining of the cladding panels which were originally white and have never been cleaned. The building was described by Prince Charles as "looking more like a place for burning books, than keeping them". In October 2011 the World Monuments Fund included Central Library on its watch list of significant buildings at risk.