Library and Study Centre – 2021 RIBA National Award winner
The College is delighted
that the building, opened in October 2019, has now received a RIBA National
Award, to add to the special award as RIBA South Building of the Year 2021 and the RIBA South Award 2021.
Wright and Wright Architects were commissioned in 2015 to remodel and extend the College's library which is housed in Canterbury Quadrangle, one of the UK's most significant Baroque settings. Set within the President's garden and bordering the College's historic gardens, the Library and Study Centre is linked to the 16th-century Old Library and 17th-century Laudian Library.
Commenting on this year’s award winners, RIBA President, Simon Allford, highlighted the ‘number of well-designed school and university buildings that are powerful investments in the future, and … [that] will inspire your people, their teachers and communities’. He also noted the creative use of existing structures as essential for designing a low-carbon future.
Zoe Hancock, Principal Bursar, said:
'We are very pleased that our Library and Study Centre is a winner of a 2021 RIBA National Award. The Library and Study Centre makes an enormous contribution to the education and research of our student and academic community. It is wonderful that RIBA have recognised the building for its sustainable design and for the way it successfully links the old and new parts of the College whilst providing an excellent study environment.'
The Library and Study Centre incorporates passive environmental control measures designed to reduce the new building's energy consumption with an emphasis on natural ventilation and daylighting. Heating is provided by ground-source heat pumps, and photovoltaic panels on the roof.
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