Environment

For a building such as the Peckham library there are a number of expectations. All buildings with a clearly defined purpose are subject to these kinds of expectations, and the manner in which these are defined or denied are in many ways what makes these buildings interesting.

Libraries are archetypal buildings so there are a few rules which must be followed if it is to fulfill its purpose.

For instance, there must be an atmosphere of silence. Not just silence in and of itself, but the entire space must comminucate this silence and intolerance to noise. In the peckham library there is hardly a sign that tells the visitor to be silent and yet it is clearly as silent place.

As you enter the building you’ve left a busy street, walked across a large open square into the cover of the buildings top floors and into a building very much unlike a public library. Or rather, ur expectations of what a public library may be. As you walk up the stairs or ascend in the elevator you are treated to a normal office-like space, albeit one where the building materials are clearly displayed. But when you enter the library you cross a threshold into a very different kind of space from the first few floos.

In the library, the line between private and public become blurred. Peckham library doesn’t focus on giant open spaces furnitured by long rows of table for quiet study, instead there are comfortable chairs placed in clusters throughout the space, inviting you to sit down and become invested in a book.

By its very nature and name Peckham library is a public space and therefore the behaviour of anyone within it should be of the kind reserved for public spaces. But it is also a place that encourages you to read and discourages you from any verbal exchanges of lenghth.

Reading is a very private affair. The experience happens solely within the reader, and those experiences can be highly emotional and personal. So within the public space, there are small pockets of very personal space, changing as one person stops reading and another one begins.