GGG Basel City Library
Basel, Switzerland
Competition 1st prize 2012
Planning 2012
Realisation 2013-2014
Opening 8. May 2015
City
Library.
Overview
Client
GGG Gesellschaft für das Gute und Gemeinnützige Basel, Switzerland
Architecture, general planning
Itten+Brechbühl AG, Basel, Switzerland
Team ZPF
Conor Murphy, Sali Sadikaj
Isaak Iselin, a proponent of the Enlightenment, founded GGG Basel (The Society for the Common and Good) in 1777 for the promotion of education, welfare institutions and culture, so as to combat the bitter poverty of large sections of the population. The Basel Youth Library was established in 1807, and has become a modern media centre with over 32,000 members and almost 750,000 visitors a year. The library is in Basel's historical city centre and extends throughout three buildings, one of which, the former guild house Zum Schmiedenhof, is a listed building. The original library installation from the mid-1970s proved too small for its constantly expanding programme and growing clientele, 30 years after it was implemented.
The comprehensive conversion and extension in both the Schmiedenhof wing and the Vischer wing enable adequate modernisation, while doubling the size of the library. One of the most important challenges was to combine the historical guild house with the current requirements of a media centre. The architectural concept revolved around dismantling the conversion and installation work from the 1970s: an important corrective measure in terms of heritage preservation. The main idea was to invigorate the public space, which the library is also part of.
The interior courtyard, with its eye-catching tower, now functions as an urban open space and a venue for open-air events. This is where the main entrances to the library (Schmiedenhof wing) and bistro (Vischer wing) are located. The thoroughfare from the interior courtyard to Rümelinsplatz through the tower was retained and smartly combined with the new means of access from Rümelinsplatz, which now serves as an entrance to the building. The associated adjustments to the facades are also to be seen as a dismantling of the 1970s conversion work and as repair work.
The new large entrance zone on the ground floor of the Schmiedenhof wing is integrated into the protected building fabric. The interior is characterised by the new infrastructure with lifts and stairs, connecting the various levels of the Schmiedenhof and Vischer wings. This arrangement clearly divides the floor plans into three areas (Schmiedenhof wing, Vischer wing and intermediate structure) that each accommodate the library's small rooms. The interventions are clearly evident and thus invigorate the atmosphere of the old building. New usage and signage concepts aid visitors' orientation. An intense colour scheme, rich in contrasts, lends the new rooms a modern upbeat ambience.
The cantonal heritage preservation authority was already involved in the assessment of the public tendering procedure. All interventions and examinations of the building fabric were carried out in coordination with this authority. The building complex was made earthquake-resistant, to the benefit of the historical guild hall on the first floor in the Schmiedenhof wing. Both wings were reinforced and braced by the new infrastructural core.