Pathagar Public Library

Libraries in this climate have a specific problem: readers want daylight, and books need to be kept out of it.

The answer here is a set of deep brick fins standing proud of the glazing across the main elevation. They cut direct sun off the reading rooms for most of the day while leaving the view out intact, and because they are the same brick as the wall behind, the building reads as one material from the street.

The fins continue past the building as a free-standing screen along the boundary, which ties the library to its plot and gives the entrance a shaded forecourt. Inside, stacks are held against the solid internal walls in deep shade and reading tables sit on the daylit perimeter. A covered entrance canopy in timber marks the way in.