Library Dornbirn

The new library building in Dornbirn was designed as a free-form pavilion consisting of four connected parabolas in reinforced concrete with a double-shell facade. While the inside consists of floor-to-ceiling wood and aluminium windows installed in panels, which allow a lot of daylight to flow into the library, the outer facade serves as perfect sun protection. The ceramic baguettes used for this create a play of light inside the building and lend the clear structure a special detail from the outside: an abstract book facade. This semi-transparent building envelope was created with the help of a total of 7,714 oblong ceramic baguettes measuring 120x60 centimetres. Their rectangular format, the vertical and diagonal arrangement, as well as the broken white and parchment-like structure reconstruct the format and writing of a book. Special support profiles on a curved steel substructure specific to the system are used to attach the baguettes, enabling quick and easy installation and subsequent replacement around the building.