In May 2014 Edinburgh Central Library launched transformed and improved spaces and services for their Children’s and Music collections, bringing together for the first time in 40 years all Central Library services under one roof. 

The enhanced facilities are fantastically well received by our customers – in the first year visitor numbers to the Children’s Library increased by 54% and to the Music Library by 25%.

The project has been shortlisted in the Intelligent Design category of this year’s SBID International Design Awards. The SBID International Design Awards has come to be regarded as one of the highest accolades in the interior design industry.  Each category undergoes an exclusive two-tier judging process by panels of leading industry experts for both technical content and aesthetic creativity and evaluates elements such as brief compliance, budget, health & safety, and fit-for-purpose design. The past Awards received entries from over 30 countries, across 5 continents around the world

The drive to improve the facilities for the Music Library and Children’s Library came about because of the City of Edinburgh’s property rationalisation programme. Our Central Library was spread over two buildings, one of which housed these two spaces. The building suffered from very poor access, and very importantly from the children’s point of view, a lack of toilet facilities. When the decision was made to sell the building we saw this as a huge opportunity to provide a children’s library fit for Edinburgh’s Central Library, and to allow our music lovers much easier access to the collection. 

Expert view

Lesley McMillan, the project manager, says:

"With a BA (Hons) in Interior Architecture from Napier University, Edinburgh I work for the Building Programme Team of City of Edinburgh Council on a variety of projects. I was very excited to get the opportunity to work on such a prestigious project in Edinburgh in a building that I have fond memories of visiting as a student. I looked after both the architectural and interior elements of the project including all of the bespoke furniture. 

"I worked very closely with the library staff team to establish areas within the existing building complex to house the collections. We looked at the existing collections - the linear meters of the books and resources that were going to be housed. It was important to look at the impact of technology, integrating smart technology and AV into the space, creating flexible space which could adapt and evolve over time."

Music on the Mezz

The Mezzanine area of the library was a space that needed upgrading and lots of love! After consulting with the Council’s Planning Department and Historic Environment Scotland, the existing 1950s balustrade was replaced with a sleek minimal glazed one which allows natural daylight to flood into the mezzanine and the space below while being sympathetic to the beautiful space. We added clear panels to surrounding windows, allowing existing low windowsills to be used as informal window seats. The structural capability of the floor areas dictated layout so structural engineers calculated the maximum weight of books on shelves – the end result is all the music books and sets are now housed in this zone. 

The Music Library’s collection included around 10,000 CDs. We knew we needed to provide public access to around 6,000 of these and recognised that the way that we access and consume music has changed, but there is still a need for community spaces to access information and connect with others.  Lesley designed a unit to house the CD collection and included listening stations for downloadable music. There are magazine racks and displays for community music information and DVD shelves wrap around the original pillars.  An acoustic pod was included in the space, which has proved a great asset for people wishing to practice their music, for students involved in group study, for people who are blind and partially sighted to use technology. The pod and the additional lighting create a modern and contemporary feel.   

Reuse and recycle

A local social enterprise, which supports people who are homeless, used the glass etchings from the 1950s balustrade and framed them using the balustrade’s original oak timber making artwork which is now displayed in the Edinburgh and Scottish Library. 

Enchanting Children

The brief for Children’s was to include flexible space for the under 5s which could be used to hold author events and Bookbug Rhymetime sessions.

Lesley is very interested in integrating the principles of biophilic designs into interiors.  Biophilia is the bond between humans and nature, and children have an innate biological tendency to bond with the natural world.  Regular positive interactions with nature allow children to feel comfortable and grow to love it. This was the inspiration for the tree of knowledge in the under 5s area - it has shelves as branches and a cosy reading nook inside the trunk, forming a haven for children and parents to share books together and watch the colour changing lights around the branches. 

The brief also included an Arts & Crafts area and children’s toilet facilities. In order to retain as much of the existing floor area as possible, the existing accessible WC was altered to create a ‘family WC’ rather than creating new toilets. 

Beautiful artwork enhances great spaces so library staff approached Catherine Rayner, an award winning local author and illustrator who studied illustration at Edinburgh College of Art. Characters from her stories such as a dragon, hares and a bear and creatures of a wilder kind, along with leaves and grass now liven up the area. Catherine gifted the images to the library and helped us arrange them in the space. Some were printed onto wallpaper, and others were hand cut and strategically placed to create a space which is truly magical.  Again AV was carefully integrated into the room, and a green cosy grass-like carpet was laid for children to sit on!

Specially designed shelving units sit within recessed window areas and concealed benches form additional seating during events.  ‘Reading nooks’ with LED up-lights behind units wash the walls in magnificent colours that change and enhance the space, a great attraction as you walk past the open library on a dark night.  

Conclusion

The Children’s Library has proved to be a huge success, but we cannot simply rest on our laurels. We need to keep providing a high calibre of activities and events to continue to encourage local children to use the library. We have children in our area who may never think to come to Central Library so we are doing  more outreach activities in the local area. 

The Music Library has also been a success, but some of our dedicated users have not enjoyed the new space as much as we would have liked. In particular, our chosen method of housing and displaying the CD collection has not been universally popular. It was a compromise brought about by the need to house the collection in a much smaller space. Furthermore, it is a format which is losing ground against downloads and streaming. We are therefore working hard to publicise some of the amazing facilities and services our Music Library offers.
The refurbishment of both spaces has revitalised our Victorian building and made it a much more welcoming space, fit for the 21st Century. 

The design drawings and details of all the required furniture and bespoke designed were pulled together in a detailed tender package.  This was put out to tender via the Public Contract Scotland tendering process.  Azzurro Ltd was the main furniture supplier working with FG Products who supplied the shelving and bespoke elements.