[Tom Servo]

WILL ALSOP
PECKHAM LIBRARY
london

The public library at Peckham, south London, completed late in 1999, is part of a concerted programme of regeneration and community growth for this part of the borough of Southwark and forms one element in a new public square. SMC Alsop's architectural approach responds to, and interacts with, a client brief which seeks to redefine the role of the library in the local community.

After the practice's appointment (through a process of competitive interview), SMC Alsop launched an intense dialogue with the community to discover what sort of building Peckham's inhabitants wanted. Different groups who would eventually use the building; schools, disabled forums, inhabitants of Peckham, were consulted at design workshops. The result was a striking example of the new community architecture. Eschewing the idea of a library as a static and somewhat rarefied preserve of accumulated knowledge, wisdom and informat ion, the Peckham model proposes that the 21st century library should reach out to the community, encourage access to knowledge and embrace the diversity of the local population.

SMC Alsop's first major building in London, the Peckham Library brings together a number of themes and ideas which have long preoccupied the practice. Most obviously, there is the conviction that the public domain is enriched by strong form and vivid colour.

Traditionally, a library is conceived as a 'serious' building, but for SMC Alsop seriousness of purpose does not preclude either high style or wit. The practice habitually elevates its buildings above ground level, so that users connect with sky and views and the building itself, whatever its function, gains in presence. A by-product of this strategy is that buildings gain a 'sixth facade' -- an underbelly which can form the cover for a public space at ground level.

The Peckham Library is supported on concrete-filled steel columns, angled to form an irregular arcade which encloses a covered space, an extension of the new square. External claddings are chosen for durability and for their expressive textures and colours -- pre-patinated copper and steel mesh contrast with coloured glass (used on the north facade). The library itself is at fourth floor level, the short arm of an inverted 'L', with offices, meeting rooms and other ancillary facilities on the lower floors.

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