ROSTOCK UNIVERSITY LIBRARY - architeria.eu

ROSTOCK UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Photographer: Reinhard Görner
Copyright: Henning Larsen Architects


The project won 1st prize in an international competition with 25 invited architectural
practices. The 13,000 m2 building is the cornerstone of a comprehensive eight-faculty
extension of the Rostock University.

Located on a significant, elevated site on the corner of Albert Einsteinstrasse and
Ringstrasse, the library marks the entrance and stands out as a landmark of the new
university.

The L-shaped building creates a new, active space in the city together with the students’
café opposite. The library is designed with a narrow four-storey room, which ties
together and supplies light to both the shelf sections and the study spaces located
in a reading gallery facing the large open entrance square. A spacious public terrace
spanning two storeys ends and defines the corner of the building at the entrance point
of Albert Einsteinstrasse.

A large organically shaped carving in the lower floor – leading from the porch to the
counter– defines the flow of the entrance area of the building. From this point a light
steel staircase ties all storeys together around the centrally located reception area
on the ground floor.

Energy saving measures are a focal point on the development of the library project.
Cooling of the building is embedded in the concrete floors and connected to a geothermal
facility.

Credits

> Client: Ministry of Finance Mecklenburg Vorpommern
> Construction Period: 2004
> Gross floor area: 13,000 m2
> Construction value: Euro 15,5 mill.
> Type of assignment: International invited competition, 2000