Design notes
A room for reading
Libraries are the rooms clients describe with the most feeling — and the ones that most need practical design.
Almost every residential brief we receive mentions a library, even when the house has no room for one. What people are asking for is a place to sit still, surrounded by things they have chosen.
Shelves first, then the chair
Books are heavy and shelves sag. We design shelving with spans under 80 cm, fixed shelves every third row for rigidity, and depths that suit the collection — 25 cm for novels, 35 cm for art books. A rolling ladder is only worth it above 2.6 m.
Then comes the reading chair, placed where daylight falls over the reader’s shoulder, with a lamp that takes over at dusk. If the chair is right, the room gets used.
A library is a room that becomes a world. It still needs a good lamp.
Even a corner will do
When a house has no spare room, a deep window seat with shelves either side does most of what a library does. The important thing is that it is a place, not a piece of furniture.
