Industry News
A new chapter
Councillor Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, laid the last piece of concrete on the highest point of the new Library of Birmingham at the Official Topping Out Ceremony. This is a significant marker in the construction of the new £188.8 million building, designed by Mecanoo architects, is due to open in 2013.
construction of a very significant new building for Birmingham. With two years to go until the Library of Birmingham opens its doors, we are at a hugely exciting point in the project with the installation of this stunning external façade. The new Library will be an iconic landmark, creating a major new cultural destination that will raise the city's profile across the country and around the world. The building is progressing at a spectacular rate and this is testament to the skill and hard work of the hundreds of people helping to drive the project forward.” The Topping Out took place at the rotunda on
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the summit of the building, which will eventually house the Shakespeare Memorial Room, originally a feature in the Victorian Library and currently in Birmingham Central Library. The Shakespeare Memorial Room will be located alongside a viewing gallery giving panoramic views across the city. The Topping out was also celebrated with the first performan-
ike Whitby said, “l am thrilled to be cel- ebrating the Topping Out of the library of Birmingham, a major milestone in the
-ces in the Library’s outdoor amphitheatre in Centenary Square. The Library comprises of ten levels, with nine
above ground and a lower ground floor. It is being constructed using 21,000 m3
of concrete in the
‘The Library of Birmingham is a BREEAM
Excellent rated building’ average UK men. 30,000 m2
frame, enough to fill more than eight Olympic sized swimming pools. The frame is reinforced by 3,000 tonnes of steel, the equiva- lent weight of around 35,750 of material enough
to fill 60,000 bath tubs, had to be dug out of the basement. Centenary Square, the largest public square in
the heart of Birmingham, currently lacks cohesion or a clear identity and atmosphere. Mecanoo’s design transforms the square into one, with three distinct realms: monumental, cultural and enter- tainment. These palazzos form an urban narrative of important periods in the history of the city: The Repertory Theatre (REP), a 1960s concrete build- ing; the Library of Birmingham, designed in 2009; and Baskerville House, a listed sandstone building designed in 1936. The busiest pedestrian route in the city, what Mecanoo calls the red line, leads pedestrians into Centenary Square. The cantilever of the library is not only a large canopy that pro- vides shelter at the common entrance of the Library of Birmingham and the REP, but additionally
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