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Writer's pictureThe Library Company

Imagining the Possibilities: Inside Ashwell Primary School's Enchanting Woodland and Castle Themed Library.

Updated: Oct 4



Most importantly the children love the library, it is used by them daily.

Tracy Bowen, Business Manager, Ashwell Primary School



THE BRIEF - 'A complete overhaul of the library is need we want, a 'WOW' factor'

Walking into Ashwell primary I was met by Tracy who had contacted me about the library design. Tracy showed us around the school and I could see the pride in the school with children's work on display throughout. As we stood in the room that was to be transformed into the library, Tracy explained it had become a room for storage and no longer celebrated books, it was full of old mismatched shelving . We looked at the great space available for the new library and looked at inspiration from our portfolio to see how we could transform the space and it led us to a fantasy woodland with it's very own castle. We set too crafting a woodland and castle themed library.


THE DESIGN - 'A magical castle theme'

We pride ourselves in creating inspirational, engaging spaces for children to fall in love with reading. With this project we had a lot of space to work with, which isn't always the easiest task. We truly believe that a library can be the hub of the school.


Through years of creating designs, we know what can work and what can fall short with larger spaces. We always look at all the options the space in the room has to offer taking note of the potential obstructions.

Before shot of primary school library

We knew the castle had to be the main focal point of the room, and we ensured it was the first thing you saw as you walked into the library. On the wall behind we placed wallpaper that resmebled castle brick which we contained onto the castle structure itself. The shelving surrounding the castle we opted to continue the 'castletion' on the canopy on top of the units, this made that section of the shelving feel fluent.


We created a large reading nook that seamlessly fitted with the shelving along the main wall. It created a stunning visual as you walked into the room with the nook a place for the children to explore and fall in love with reading, it has an 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. The shape we created allowed the space to be utilised in multiple ways with space for tables and chairs for the children to work in the space. Creating this woodland and castle themed library was truly special and a project we're very proud to be a part of.


The library always gets a wow when we show people around. Most importantly the children love the library, it is used by them daily, they have comfortable seating and love tucking themselves away with a book in the castle.

Tracy Bowen, Business Manager, Ashwell Primary School


THE LIBRARY - 'Most importantly the children love the library '

This library project was a joy for us to involved in. From the initial meeting where we delved deep into our imaginations and created this wonderful fantasy land complete with a castle to the installation itself where the library now is full of magic. Creating innovative spaces for children to fall in love with reading is so important and this project really captured the essence of reading in its design. A space the school can enjoy for generations to come.



Josh was great from the beginning of the project through to the end and beyond when we needed to source more of the wall covering following changes to our radiators.

Tracy Bowen, Business Manager, Ashwell Primary School



Transformation video coming soon...

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