‘book mountain + library quarter’ by MVRDV, spijkenisse, the netherlands image © jeroen musch all images courtesy of MVRDV

rotterdam-based MVRDV has just completed the ‘book mountain + library quarter’ centrally located in the market square of spijkenisse, the netherlands. a mountain of bookshelves is contained by a glass-enclosed structure and pyramidal roof with an impressive total surface area of 9,300 square meters. corridors and platforms bordering the form are accessed by a network of stairs to allow visitors to browse the tiers of shelves. a continuous route of 480 meters culminates at the peak’s reading room and cafe with panoramic views through the transparent roof. any possible damage caused to the books by direct sunlight is offset by the expected 4 year lifespan of borrowed materials.

additional functions including an environmental education center, meeting rooms, auditorium, offices and retail take place on site. taking the form of a traditional dutch farm to reference the agricultural roots of the village. the encompassing district integrates 42 social housing units, parking and public spaces to form a neighborhood. the masonry exterior of adjacent structures is introduced into the interior with brick pavers for the circulation spaces.

see our original coverage when this project was unveiled here.

view from market square image © jeroen musch

stairs lead to different levels to allow access to the mountain’s shelves image © jeroen musch

image © jeroen musch

seating and reading spaces border the mountain formed with bookshelves image © jeroen musch

a reading room and cafe are positioned at the peak image © jeroen musch

image © jeroen musch

upper level corridor image © jeroen musch

upper level corridor image © jeroen musch

exterior of the glass-enclosed mountain image © jeroen musch

at night image © jeroen musch

project info:

total budget incl. parking: 30 million EUR start project: 2003 start construction: may 2009 opening: october 2012 public part library: 3500 m2 environmental education centre: 112 m2 chess club: 140 m2 back office library: 370 m2 retail: 839 m2 commercial offices: 510 m2 length book shelves: 3205 m total (1565 m for lending, 1640 m archive) amount of books: currently 70.000 and space for another 80.000 the cover is 26 m tall and spans 33,5 m x 47 m parking: garage with grey water basin and 350 spaces client: gemeente spijkenisse user: openbare bibliotheek spijkenisse, milieuhuis spijkenisse, schaaksportvereniging spijkenisse architect: MVRDV, rotterdam, nl client housing: de leeuw van putten housing corporation installations: ARCADIS nederland, amersfoort, nl structure: ABT i.o.v. ARCADIS nederland, amersfoort, nl contractor: VORM bouw, papendrecht, nl technical architect: studio bouwhaven, barendrecht, nl book shelves: keijsers interior projects, horst a/d maas, nl glass: brakel atmos, uden, nl wood cover: de groot vroomshoop houtbouw, vroomshoop, nl interior advices: roukens + van gils, gouda, nl material book shelves: klp, lankhorst, sneek, nl climate, acoustics: dgmr, arnhem, nl lighting: arup, amsterdam lamps: viabizzuno, bologna, it foam furniture: feeks