Carles Rahola Public Library

Girona, Spain / Cultural Civic / 8,072 m²

“Class A” energy certification of the European Union

Nominated, European Prize for Contemporary Architecture–Mies van der Rohe Award 2015

Selected, FAD Prizes for Architecture 2015

Special Mention, Architecture Awards of the Counties of Girona, COAC 2015

Award, Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Argentina, BI-AR 2016

This is the largest public library in Catalunya. Its location in a dense neighborhood of tall residential buildings in the center of Girona gave rise to a design strategy that emphasized its civic and cultural importance by differentiating it in terms of its form and materials. 

Visitors enter from the public plaza into the ground floor where the children’s library and the spaces for community activities are located. The reading rooms are on the upper two levels, and the administration is on the lower level. The large, open staircase that connects the three public levels accentuates the internal spatial continuity, which is composed of open spaces organized around a central patio with a green wall that extends the full height of the building. 

The square-shaped volume is almost entirely glazed in U-glass punctuated by transparent glass, which floods the interior with a diffuse light especially comfortable for reading while framing views of the surrounding neighborhood and the two lateral green patios.

The project responds to the role of the contemporary library as a community hub while also fulfilling its traditional role as a quiet place for reading and studying.

Credits