'From start to finish the team at The Library Company listened to our vision and worked with us to create the calming yet inspiring place for our learners to truly engage with. We cannot thank them enough for creating a space with us which staff, pupils and families love'
Liz Blacklock, Head of St Peter's COE, Market Bosworth.
THE BRIEF - ‘Create magic’
When we stepped into St Peters COE School in Market Bosworth we could instantly see the passion for learning as we walked the halls with any free wall space filled with celebrations of the pupils work. The wonderful head teacher, Liz Seymour, walked us through her school with pride describing how the school has created a learning environment that is inspiring, educating and committed to developing children to become successful lifelong learners.
As we arrived at the door of the library, Liz paused and went onto to explain the room has lost its primary function of a library and a place to read, it’s now mixed between a place to store books, computers amongst other things. It had lost its identity as a place where children want to pick up a book up and read, enjoy the magic of reading and fall in love with stories. We reassured her, with her passion and our eye for design we could transform the room into a magical learning hub that emulates ethos of the rest of the school.
The school has a wonderful outside area, with some school chickens in huts outside, it has a large playing field and around the perimeter is has a lovely little woodland area, their own woods the children can enjoy and discover wildlife in its natural habitat. This was a key part of the brief, ‘bring the outdoors inside’, we were asked to make the space ‘engaging and inspiring place for our children to read’.
The room had a partition in the middle, for us to create an open social space we discussed with Liz about having this removed. This would leave us with a unique shape as well as a much more inviting open space to install the brand new library in.
THE DESIGN - 'We want that WOW factor'
We approach every design with the clients vision in the fore front of our minds. We have been designing a building libraries for years so we know a lot of the tried and tested but for us being challenged to create something truly wonderful is why we do it. Liz had a vision, she wanted to bring the outdoors inside, a forest themed library. With the charming woodland area surrounding the school, it was key to bring this into our design. A key element of this was the use of forest wallpaper, a really fun engaging way to create a feeling within the room, a feeling of calm, a place where you want to pick up a book and read. We utilised the space and carefully chose where and where not to place the wallpaper to maximise the effect without overdoing it. The finished article is really striking, a beautiful backdrop to the library itself.
How to store the books in an effective but engaging way? Liz knew she needed space within the room. This library is the hub of the school and will be used by everyone in it. With this in mind, we were eager to utilise the wall space we had. The shape of the room after the removal of the partition wall left us with a unique shape but one we looked at with an open mind. The shelving is their for a purpose but why not place it in a fun and dynamic way to make the most of the library. We kept the shelving to perimeter for the most part but Liz had told us she wanted that WOW factor, a place for the children to explore and fall in love with reading so we created the reading nook! We placed the shelving in a way that created a room within the run of shelving, it has a arched doorway for entrance and a couple of windows in the shelving so you can peak in and out. It is a very fun space for the children to explore, find a book and read. With a few cushions and bean bags it's the den every child wants!
The rest of shelving was designed to maximise storage and store the books Liz needed. We added some panels for front facing books to create a space for 'book of the week' or a place to promote books and this panel fitted seamlessly into the run of shelving to keep the dynamic feel of the complete run. We installed a run of low shelving to not crowd the room, this also allowed us to show of the fantastic wallpaper beautifully, the wallpaper really lifted the design and helped bring the outdoors inside. Woodlands have such a calming nature to them and to replicate this will floor to ceiling wallpaper really encapsulated the outdoor feel Liz wanted for the design.
THE LIBRARY - 'calming yet inspiring place'
Watch the video below to see the transformation.
Design & installation by The Library Company
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