Ussher Library, Trinity College
Dublin
McCullough Mulvin Architects & Keane Murphy Duff Architects

These modern sculptural blocks define a border between college and city

© Christian Richters

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The new Ussher Library at Trinity College is a landmark building for Dublin. Initiated as an international architectural competition, the project provides 750 undergraduate reader places in a state-of-the-art building with exposed boardmarked concrete and granite finishes. The concept establishes three prismatic sculptural blocks on a podium set north-south across the site, with the two longer blocks connected by an atrium. The taller is closed, stone-clad, and dedicated to book storage; the other, lower, more dynamically shaped building in stone and glass contains reading rooms with views of a park; and the third block is utilized for a book conservation laboratory. Served by a core at one end which anchors the plan, each block is designed as a solid planar element. The line of stone cladding is carried through into the atrium in timber paneling and the atrium glazing is perceived as a separate shard-like element. The conservation block roof is an origami-like folded plane of glass and metal.

The new buildings form a functional unit with the existing Berkeley and Lecky libraries. All three are connected at podium level with the Berkeley Library being retained as the main entrance to the whole complex—a staircase descends from it to a new orientation space serving all three. This library had to fit into a very strong urban context, standing on the edge between the college and the city of Dublin. It keeps to the grid of the college buildings, while recognizing the line of the streetscape. The building is like a gateway, with three books forming an open space among them, which frames views and routes from the city onto the campus. By its shape and location, the project establishes two strongly configured urban spaces.

Formal name of Project:
Ussher Library, Trinity College

Location:
Dublin

Gross square footage:
108,000 sq ft

Total construction cost:
$27 million

Owner:
Provost, Fellows and Scholars of Trinity College, Dublin

Architect:
McCullough Mulvin Architects
Tel: 01 497 2266
Fax: 01 497 9592
macmul@eircom.net

Keane Murphy Duff Architects
Tel: 01 677 0077
Fax: 01 677 0827
super@kmd.ie