Architects: URBANUS
Area: 3089 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: UK Studio
Lead Architects: Hui WANG
Design Team: Yutong Wang, Yongmei Yao, Yu Chen, Shuyan Zhang, Yenpang Chou, Jingyu Wang, Yiyang Wen, Zhongyu Jiang, Xiaoye Li, Ting Zhang | Mengting Yang, Chen Lin, Jinghan He, Yao Yutong (Intern)
Construction Documents: Dasong Architectural Design (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
General Contractor: Beijing Huakai Construction Decoration Engineering
Clients: Hebi City Zhongchen Urban Construction and Development Co., Ltd
City: Hebi
Country: China
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music Experimental School Hebi Branch Library, designed by URBANUS, is a key cultural hub in a newly built public school. The renovation focused on upgrading existing conditions cost-effectively, aiming to foster a love for reading in a fifth-tier city with limited resources. To address challenges like excessive sunlight, the design incorporated motorized skylights and perforated aluminum panels for improved ventilation and lighting. The original large staircase was transformed into a “book mountain,” creating tiered reading spaces for different school levels. The first floor serves elementary students with smaller, supervised areas and playful “caves,” while the second-floor features “reading islands” for middle schoolers, with varied seating and thematic colors. The third floor, designed as a teachers’ lounge, provides a tranquil retreat focused on self-improvement literature. Material choices like white finishes, translucent polycarbonate, and colorful carpets create a bright, inviting atmosphere that enhances sound absorption. Despite budget constraints, the library’s design aims to inspire a lifelong love of reading by making the space engaging and accessible for students and teachers alike.
In lower-tier cities, where the value of purposeful design is most evident, the library was seen not as a luxury but as a practical necessity. Unlike the internet-famous libraries and bookstores seen in first and second-tier cities, a library in a fifth-tier city plays a vital role in providing children, who have limited exposure to the broader world, with a space that fosters a love for reading and lifelong learning. As William S. Maugham said, “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.” Thus, the more under-resourced an area is, the more significant a primary school library becomes. The original building consists of three floors with a square plan, featuring a large staircase leading to the second floor with a central skylight and mezzanine. The design approach focused on upgrading these existing conditions at minimal cost.
Challenges and Solutions
Challenge 1: Skylight Issues
Problem: The skylight above the atrium lacked proper sun shading, ventilation, and smoke exhaust, resulting in excessive heat and direct sunlight, which made the space unsuitable for reading.
Solution: To “soften the light and soothe the wind,” the skylight was motorized and equipped with clerestory windows to improve natural ventilation and reduce the reliance on air-conditioning, enhancing indoor comfort with an active energy-saving approach. Perforated aluminum panels were suspended beneath the skylight as a “light filter,” diffusing harsh sunlight into a softer light, making the reading area more comfortable.
Challenge 2: Inappropriate Staircase Design
Problem: The original staircase resembled a bookstore event space, which conflicted with the quiet atmosphere required for a library.
Solution: A “book mountain” was introduced—a cascading structure that transformed the large staircase into multiple reading areas at different levels, centered around a main stair. This design is a transitional space, enhancing vertical interaction between elementary and middle school students and promoting a sense of connectedness throughout the library.
Challenge 3: Disconnected Third Floor
Problem: The third floor functioned as a mezzanine overlooking the second floor’s atrium, with no direct connection between the levels.
Solution: To “step up a level,” the third floor was redesigned as a teachers’ retreat—a reading lounge with views over the lower levels. The “book mountain” extends into the second floor, linked by a zigzag staircase embedded within the bookshelves, creating a continuous spatial flow that connects all three levels seamlessly.
In the updated layout, the first floor is designated as the reading area for elementary students, with a closed-shelf section accessible only to teachers, while the second floor is set aside for middle school students. To enhance the sense of space on the first floor, glass partitions separate the teachers’ closed-shelf section from the elementary open-shelf area, allowing visibility for supervision and reducing the need for intensive management. Recognizing that elementary students often struggle with focus and benefit from oversight, the large floor space is divided into smaller, independent reading zones using bookshelves. Each zone can accommodate a single teaching group for reading sessions. The bookshelves are also designed with inhabitable “caves,” providing visual openness between areas and offering more secluded spots for the children. Furthermore, the space beneath the large staircase is utilized to create a series of “cave dwellings” and “reading huts,” incorporating playful spatial elements to foster an engaging and dynamic reading environment.
Second-floor Middle-school Area: Reading Islands
The second floor offers a spacious and diverse reading environment tailored to the needs of middle-school students. Along the curtain wall, a continuously changing table serves as an individual study space, providing ample natural light and expansive views, ideal for focused, independent work. Surrounding the atrium along the inner perimeter are three independent “islands,” each large enough to accommodate an entire class. Each “island” features a distinct thematic color, a large communal desk, and a bookshelf hut for secluded reading. The shared desks encourage groups of friends to gather, exchange books, and discuss ideas openly.
Third-floor Teachers’ Lounge
“A Spiritual Highland.” The third floor functions as a “refueling station” for teachers, offering a retreat filled with books focused on personal growth rather than teaching materials. This space serves as a sanctuary for socializing and spiritual renewal, providing a peaceful environment for self-improvement and relaxation.
Materials
To create a brighter and cleaner look, the walls and ceilings are finished in pure white, with added texture for visual interest. Polycarbonate panels were used along the perimeters of the “book mountain,” providing a translucent layer that subtly veils the colorful books behind the shelves. The suspended “light filter” was initially intended to use polycarbonate panels, but due to their Class B1 fire rating, they were replaced with perforated aluminum panels to meet the Class A requirement for the skylight materials, achieving a similar diffused lighting effect. PVC-woven vinyl carpets in various colors and mosaics define different areas and improve sound absorption. Paired with vibrant, saturated colors in the furniture and bookshelves, these elements infuse the space with energy and diversity.
Color Selection
The library’s design aims to be clean, simple, and full of vitality and positive energy, achieved through a primary backdrop of white with accents of saturated primary colors. White was selected for large surfaces to highlight the library’s quiet ambiance, featured in elements like the white “light filter,” translucent polycarbonate panels, and matte white terrazzo-textured ceramic tiles. Bright colors on the floors, furniture, and bookshelves stand out against this neutral base. In the elementary section, darker shades of blue and brown-red were used on the carpet to minimize distractions, based on color psychology principles. The second-floor middle-school area, benefiting from better lighting, uses brighter colors, making the space feel more vibrant and lively.
Furniture Design
To maintain the openness and flow of the interior, areas are divided only by bookshelves and desks. PVC-woven vinyl carpets are also used as finishing materials on parts of the bookshelves and desks, ensuring continuity with the flooring and enhancing the overall cohesion of the design.
Despite a modest budget, the library’s quality surpasses what is often found in first or second-tier city public schools, making it a significant achievement for a fifth-tier city. The impact of this investment goes far beyond its cost, as the library provides an essential space that opens children’s minds and sparks their interest in reading—opportunities that are less accessible in lower-tier cities compared to first-tier cities with more eye-catching facilities. The design aims to nurture a love for the library and, ultimately, a lifelong love for reading, giving students the chance to build a personal “refuge” through books that extends into their everyday lives.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Shanghai Conservatory of Music Experimental School, Qibin District, Hebi, Henan, China
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
