Public Library Spijkenisse

"The external shape and the materials used are meant to evoke a traditional Dutch barn. The new library building should be able to win over its readers. The stacking of offices, conference rooms, and lecture halls has created a tiered landscape that allows for the arrangement of shelves into a mountain of books."

In the southwestern suburb of Rotterdam, a library shaped like a giant mountain has emerged in Spijkenisse. The building stands in the center opposite a marketplace with a church. The roof and facades are likened by its authors to a 'glass dome', which, however, is protected from overheating the interior by an almost invisible membrane commonly used in greenhouses. For a pleasant climate, natural ventilation is employed, and an underground accumulator helps reduce operating costs. In addition to the library, the MVRDV studio also designed a complex of 42 family houses for the Spijkenisse center, with both typologically and materially, the houses attempt to reference old Dutch farm buildings: a reminder of the area's agrarian past.