With a keen focus on functionality, the Learning Resource Centre at Ravensbourne College adapts – with minimal intervention – an existing rectangular building into a completely new style of library. The brickwork skin of a two-storey building from the seventies is peeled away and replaced with large, double-glazed low-e glass panels embellished with oversized graphics that play with the college logo. Internally, the original layout is stripped out to open up and unify the two floors. At the building’s west end, an open staircase is inserted into an existing double-height space to extend the sense of lightness. The combination of simple, bold moves has provided a flexible learning space which is used for a variety of activities ranging from quiet study to fashion crits, exhibitions and film sets.

1999
Location
Greenwich, London
Cost
£5 Million
Client
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication