Waterford City Library
Waterford, Ireland
McCullough Mulvin Architects

Light and volume add a new dimension to an existing library

© Christian Richters

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The existing public library on Lady Lane in Waterford required complete refurbishment and an addition onto an adjoining site—an undertaker’s yard—to provide new library and information resource facilities for the community. Constructed in 1905, the existing building has a classical façade in smooth sawn Kilkenny limestone.

Originally, the interior spaces centered on a double-height rooflit reading room, which had been substantially revised in the 1970s. Now, L-shaped with the addition of the new site, the project offered great opportunities for juxtaposition between a modern extension and a layered intervention into the fabric. Careful manipulation of section and light creates new circulation by closing the former entrance location and transferring it to the new building.

The structure completely fills its site with a generous three-story block featuring a new entrance on the ground floor and a mezzanine within the same volume. Limestone cladding on the façade establishes continuity across the elevation, but the addition is set apart by different stone patterning. Inside, the architects employed wood finishing to recall the frame of the existing building. Here, programmatic layers forge a link between the old structure and the new entrance in the addition.

Formal name of Project:
Waterford City Library

Location:
Waterford, Ireland

Gross square footage:
19,375 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$4.5 million

Owner:
Waterford City Council