This book focuses on difficulties and opportunities in revitalization of old, derelict or abandoned buildings into a library and investigates the transformation of buildings which originally had a different purpose. The publication shows worldwide best practice examples from different types of libraries in historic environments, both urban and rural, while maintaining a focus on sustainability concerning the architecture and interior design.

This book is a celebration of good new design for old buildings and the SPAB philosophy that good new architecture can sit happily alongside old and is preferable to pastiche. Endorsing the value of architects who are engaged to work in the historic environment, this book explores design, materials and technical considerations in creating the best low energy, ecological and sustainable retrofits. It has never been more important to understand how old buildings can be adapted to make them useful and sustainable in the future. Showcasing the best examples of imaginative design and best practice, this book illustrates how old buildings can be made sustainable through the best new design and puts these design exemplars into a historical and philosophical context. With illustrative case studies and interviews throughout, including formal buildings, churches, domestic buildings, commercial, industrial and agricultural from all periods in the UK, New Design for Old Buildings provides essential guidance on good, imaginative new design for old buildings.

“Fans of designer Thomas O’Brien’s work would jump at the chance to take a personal tour of the Library. . . . [In Library House] O’Brien offers just that—opening the doors to his personal home and studio space, revealing, in the process, not only the home’s thoughtfully designed interiors, but the very manner in which O’Brien approaches them and his design work as a whole.” —Architectural Digest Thomas O’Brien’s name has long been synonymous with vintage elegance, modernism, and warm, livable design, so it’s no surprise that his luxurious homes in Bellport, Long Island, have attracted significant attention. Thomas O’Brien: Library House captures the gorgeous architecture, interiors, lush gardens, and myriad collections of the effortlessly formal and classic home and design studio (The Library) next door to his celebrated Academy house. In describing the process of imagining and building this dream project—a new house that looks as if it had been built over generations—the book also provides a view into how the author and his husband and fellow AD100 designer, Dan Fink, live and work. Stunning original photography documents this incredible, historically detailed residence and showcases O’Brien’s keen design sense and his expert eye through a lifetime of collecting art, antiquities, furniture, books, tableware, textiles, and more. Including behind-the-scenes stories about the extraordinary property and exclusive insight into O’Brien’s passion for gardens, this new book is an obsessive design companion and an aspirational guide to living a beautiful life in a beautiful home. It’s a coffee table keepsake for this who visit Library House and a chance to look inside for those who never have.

Distilling hard fought wisdom gleaned from hundreds of successful library construction projects they've supervised or coordinated, the authors present this definitive resource on library architecture. You'll want this handbook close at hand before, during, and after any library construction project.

This spectacular book is the first single volume to tell the story of the library as a distinct building type, all around the world. Throughout the ages, book collections have served to symbolize their owners culture and learning, and the wealthy and powerful have spent lavishly on buildings to house them. In its highest form the library became a total work of art, combining painting, sculpture, furniture and architecture into seamless, dramatic spaces. The finest libraries are repositories not just of books, but of learning, creativity and contemplation; they embody some of the highest achievements of humankind. This book recounts that history in text and images of truly outstanding quality.

Provides information and guidelines for the building planning process whether you are planning a new public or academic library building. This work reflects on fundamental issues, on development trends and on the planning process. It explores the library building process from both the library manager's perspective as well as that of the architect.

The circulation of books was the motor of classical civilization. However, books were both expensive and rare, and so libraries - private and public, royal and civic - played key roles in articulating intellectual life. This collection, written by an international team of scholars, presents a fundamental reassessment of how ancient libraries came into being, how they were organized and how they were used. Drawing on papyrology and archaeology, and on accounts written by those who read and wrote in them, it presents new research on reading cultures, on book collecting and on the origins of monumental library buildings. Many of the traditional stories told about ancient libraries are challenged. Few were really enormous, none were designed as research centres, and occasional conflagrations do not explain the loss of most ancient texts. But the central place of libraries in Greco-Roman culture emerges more clearly than ever.

With his signature use of brilliant color, thick textured walls, and light-filled spaces, the illustrious Mexican architect Richardo Legorreta has earned a distinguished reputation both in his own country and in the U.S. This long-awaited monograph presents 25 of the architect's recent and most well-known projects in Mexico, Texas, and California. 250 illus. 200 in color.

The only comprehensive treatment of American library architecture, this work details the evolution of the modern public library from 1850 to the present. Oehlerts examines the influences on the professions of public architecture and librarianship that shaped America's library buildings.