The Hub’ Library, Newport
This design for the public library will sit well in the growing post-industrial city of Newport. It has high tech access to learning, a community focus and will assist in cultural tourism. It’s a development by the riverside and will replace the existing central library in John Frost Square. The concept design ideas fit the context, climate and culture around the site, the developed design offers technical/ innovative excellence with great Environmental performance. Encouraging the public, students and children to use the library as a comfortable space to meet with friends and be in a quiet study environment.
The innovation and development in recycling shipping containers has become more popular in recent, years which is evidenced in my dissertation, ‘The Evolution of Shipping Containers’, and inspired the design of this building. The basic framework of the building is shipping containers. Steel beams act as re-enforcement for the cantilevers and are the main structure for the atrium space. The overall exterior look of the building is rustic, with timber clad and corrugated metal reminding the user of the original materials used in the build. In contrast, the internal design is modern and clean where the user can enjoy the aesthetics of shadow gaps and polished concrete floors. The corrugated sides of the shipping containers have been quietly revealed inside the building, just as a reminder of the roots of the structure.
