Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Lists of figures and tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations and technical terms
- 1 Introduction
- 2 21st-century libraries
- 3 Developing a business case
- 4 Project management
- 5 The design/project team
- 6 Selecting an architect
- 7 Partnership and community engagement
- 8 The design brief
- 9 Design quality
- 10 Space planning and access
- 11 Occupancy and post-occupancy evaluation
- 12 Building libraries for the future – a summary
- Bibliography and further reading
- Appendices
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
10 - Space planning and access
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 June 2018
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Lists of figures and tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations and technical terms
- 1 Introduction
- 2 21st-century libraries
- 3 Developing a business case
- 4 Project management
- 5 The design/project team
- 6 Selecting an architect
- 7 Partnership and community engagement
- 8 The design brief
- 9 Design quality
- 10 Space planning and access
- 11 Occupancy and post-occupancy evaluation
- 12 Building libraries for the future – a summary
- Bibliography and further reading
- Appendices
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
Summary
Space planning involves determining how large spaces within a building (like rooms and designated areas) are arranged and relate to each other within larger areas. This chapter explores the space planning issues to be considered in library designs.
When good intentions meet bad planning, library users pay the price.
(Woodward, 2007, 64)As with other aspects of project management, space planning involves taking decisions within a finite timescale and within the resources available. Space needs should be forecast and meet a future need, based on the library's projected collection and service aims. Space planning is an important part of library design and will contribute to the success of the library in terms of efficiency.
Access should be as clear and straightforward as possible, with a selfevident layout facilitating independent discovery and study for users. They should not have to understand how the library is structured in order to make use of its services.
When designing a new library, the architect is challenged to bring the sometimes conflicting needs of library and non-library functions into a coherent whole. Typical services provided within a public or academic library might include:
■ access to and loan of books
■ access to journals and newspapers
■ use of workstations
■ access to the internet
■ electronic access to research journals
■ guidance to sources of information
■ community and visitor support
■ café and refreshment area
■ group study activity areas or rooms.
The terms ‘relationships’ and ‘adjacencies’ are sometimes used to describe how different areas of a building or space relate to each other. The relationships within a particular library are determined by studying the library's philosophy of service, its use of materials and services and its policies and procedures. Appropriate planning of adjacencies will be critical to the functioning of the library, though these may change in time.
Libraries are service organizations and it is important to consider how they will be used by both users and staff. Planning teams need to consider both relationships and the movement of people and materials through the library during the design process. To operate efficiently, the library must be planned so that there is minimum interference with main routes through the building for both users and materials. Architects need to resolve these relationships through design.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Better by Designan introduction to planning and designing a new library building, pp. 117 - 136Publisher: FacetPrint publication year: 2008