Technical Refurbishment
patchwork of old and new. For the details that needed restoration, consents had to be signed off, which meant getting a standard detail drawn by the architect or William Anelay and submitting it to Liverpool’s conservation officer and planning officer. If they gave the go ahead, a sample was made, which was then either approved or reworked and eventually signed off. It was a very drawn out process,” he adds. This painstaking attention to detail can be seen in the many bottle-shaped stone balusters that support the external balustrade surrounding the Picton Library, each of which comprise three separate elements that had to be sampled and signed off. Inside, the Picton reading room
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the life of parts and materials as much as possible.” Austin-Smith:Lord’s resulting design
aims to strike a balance between a painstakingly authentic restoration of the library’s original imposing architecture and the introduction of bold and unashamedly contemporary spaces characterised by white walls, sweeping curves and uninterrupted sight lines, as Alison Pownell, architect at Austin- Smith:Lord, explains: “The Picton Library reading room very much engenders the traditional idea of a library as a quiet and austere place for study, but the modern building next door is very open and light and designed to be both grand and welcoming, so it doesn’t feel unfamiliar to the regular public. To some extent there is a juxtaposition between the past and the present,” she says. This contrast will be most apparent as
visitors enter through the new small slot entrance cut into the imposing 1.2m-thick walls of the neo-classical facade. Inside, they are confronted by a full-height atrium space, which sweeps upwards and away from the entrance, cutting through the five new library floors as it rises
toward a ribbed skylight dome. The atrium is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum in New York and floods the ground floor with light, encouraging visitors to move into the building and explore the upper levels. But there is also a mirroring of old and
new. The atrium rooflight, for example, references the oculus at the centre of the Picton reading room’s domed roof, while the oval floorplates of the new building reflect the Picton’s circular plan.
Historic details Restoring the original fabric of the library’s Grade ll* listed sections, from the external stonework to the internal plaster mouldings, fixtures and bookcases, involved seeking numerous planning consents for hundreds of historic details, each of which had to be recorded by Shepherd and historic works specialist William Anelay, and then signed off by the council’s conservation officer. “The conservation ethos was: if it’s not a danger to the structure or likely to create problems in future, it has to be retained,” says Shepherd’s Gerard. “Hence many areas of the building resemble a
Top: the domed ceiling in the Picton Reading Room was restored to its former glory. Above: the new atrium in the main building
presents visitors with a masterclass in restoration. The top of the stone colonnade surrounding the room features many exquisite details including a repeated corbel pattern with 15 liver birds incorporated into the design, timber book cases lining the walls of the mezzanine level have been repaired and even the original radiators and their timber enclosures have been recreated to match the original designs. Attention to detail is such that a
material particle analysis was carried out to determine the original 1872 paint scheme — layered over several times during previous refurbishments — and recreate the blue, white and red colours using modern paints. “When you walk into the Picton Library
reading room you might think it has simply had a nice refurbishment, but the results are close to a 100% accurate to what the Edwardians would have seen,” says Gerard. Perhaps Shepherd’s biggest challenge was achieving the building’s sensitive restoration whilst incorporating and concealing the many services and other features expected of a 21st Century library. The Hornby Library and Oak Room, closed to the public for many years, will now be re-opened, which meant creating new entrances and knocking through
> CONSTRUCTION MANAGER | SEPTEMBER 2012 | 35
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