Department of Professional Literature

The addressed space is part of the building of the City Cultural Center – originally a modernist cultural house, which was reconstructed in 2006 (an attic with dormers and colorful façades was added). After the partitions were demolished, a linear space with a ribbon window and a skeletal load-bearing system has been allocated for the new department of educational literature. Since the area of 150 m² needs to accommodate 15,000 volumes, the main challenge of the project is to devise a solution that does not fill the entire space with shelves. Within the library, there should be a quiet study area, a workspace with computers, and an open space where smaller events (up to 30 people) can be organized. The basic element of the interior is a rounded shelf, which divides the aforementioned zones with its shape. Where the shelf has the largest radius, a reading area with a view of the city and good lighting is created – this is the space for public events. The areas defined by the smaller radius of the shelf are the computer workspace and the quiet study area. These spaces are also separated from the reading area and the window and are lit by artificial lighting. They are intended for focused work. The rounded shelf has a height of 2 m and a capacity of 8,000 books. An additional 9,000 volumes will be placed in built-in shelves that reach the full height of the room along three perimeter walls of the space. The department also includes a librarian's desk made from the same material as the rounded shelf.

Metal products (entry swinging doors, wall shelves, curved shelf, seating ledge, cladding above the window lintel, and ducting for air conditioning systems made of bent perforated sheet metal, librarian's desk)
To achieve an impression of subtlety, visual lightness of the shelves, and good processability, the surprisingly suitable material turned out to be relatively heavy 5 mm thick steel sheet. All segments were cut based on workshop documentation by laser and subsequently welded as a puzzle in the locksmith workshop. The original intention to weld the shelves on-site was abandoned for practical reasons – each element was disassembled into segments, which were welded in the workshop and then simply screwed together on-site. It was statically challenging to solve the installation of the curved shelf in the space. The existing ceiling of precast concrete panels would carry a maximum pure weight of the shelf (6.5 t). Once filled with books, however, the shelf would double its weight. It was necessary to transfer the load directly to the concrete skeleton. The structural engineer proposed a grid of steel HEB profiles anchored to the existing columns. The shelf does not lay fully on the grid but only at points – the weight of the shelf is transferred to the grid through 8 steel bases. The welded shelf functions as a spatial beam due to its vertical segments.
The curved shelf and the librarian's desk are sprayed with yellow polyurethane paint. Wall shelves, entry doors, the ledge, and the cladding above the window lintel are in gray.

Surfaces (exposure of the reinforced concrete skeleton, handcrafted lime-cement plaster on the walls and ceiling, linoleum glued to the hollow-core floor)
Due to the steel grid, the floor height was raised by 18 cm, and the walkable layer – linoleum – is glued to the hollow-core floor made of calcium sulfate panels. The space between the old and new raised floor is used for conducting electrical installations. The structures of the original skeleton (columns and beams) were stripped of plaster and treated with a penetrating primer. The exposed materiality of the structures informs a perceptive person about the static system of the building and is also related to the effect of the other elements of the interior. The walls and ceiling are coated with handcrafted lime-cement plaster, and traces from the trowel application are visible and acknowledged. The intention is not to paint the plaster but to showcase its craftsmanship.

Lighting, air conditioning, furniture
The space is illuminated by typical circular fixtures distributed according to the zones divided by the curved shelf. Spotlights in a system rail, which is suspended around the perimeter of the space, are used to supplement the lighting of the wall shelves. The lights are controlled by switches built into the librarian's desk. Black circular air conditioning units are anchored to the ceiling. The distribution of the cooling medium is routed in an atypical profile made of bent perforated sheet metal, with connections and condensation drainage being exposed. The standard furniture consists of circular tables on aluminum bases and plastic chairs with chrome bases.

Drapery (Danica Pišteková)
The drapery emphasizes the idea of a window ledge for seating and creates alcoves for varying numbers of visitors and degrees of intimacy (for two/three/four). It also partially controls the lighting conditions in the interior, creating a membrane of gradients of translucency between the outside and inside, and the double rod allows for easy manipulation of the fabric to create situations or to draw the entire strip of windows in one plane without seating.

The project was supported by a grant from the Arts Support Fund under the subprogram Comprehensive Library Infrastructure. The financial resources exceeding the provided grant were covered by the budget of the town of Senec.