Biblio: Public Library Architecture for a New Age of Community Life

Project: Biblio

Location: Girona, Spain

Project by: Nicolaos Nicolaou, Nicodesign

Recognition: Shortlisted entry of BookMark 2020

A Library for All

Biblio is a proposal for a new age of public library architecture, designed not only as a place for books, but as a civic environment where reading, social exchange, culture, work and community life happen together. Created by Nicolaos Nicolaou and Nicodesign, the project reimagines the Girona Public Library as an inclusive and flexible landmark that responds to the evolving role of libraries in contemporary cities.

The concept begins with a direct question: what should a library become when people no longer need it only for silent reading or book storage? Biblio answers by turning the library into a shared urban living room. It is a place where people can read, meet, work, watch a film, attend a theatrical performance, join a discussion, visit a bookshop or simply spend time with others. Its ambition is clear: to make people love the world of books again while also supporting the wider cultural life of the city.

Public Library Architecture as a Civic Meeting Point

Traditional libraries are often understood as quiet institutions centered on individual study. Biblio expands that definition. The proposal uses public library architecture as a framework for social development, placing community interaction at the core of the design.

The project introduces an amphitheater as the main interior gathering space. This circular seating zone becomes the heart of the ground floor, allowing the library to host readings, lectures, performances, film screenings, book presentations, discussions and informal meetings. Instead of treating these activities as secondary functions, the design makes them central to the spatial experience.

Around this amphitheater, the building provides reading areas, flexible rooms, co-working spaces, a bookshop, a reception zone and a children’s library. These programs create a layered civic environment where different age groups and user needs can coexist. Visitors can move from quiet reading to social exchange, from individual work to public cultural events, without leaving the same building.

A Flexible Design for Changing Community Needs

One of the strongest ideas in Biblio is adaptability. The library is designed as a universal, flexible and innovative structure that can change over time. The building does not depend on a fixed single-use layout. Instead, it uses flexible rooms and movable partitions to create spaces that can become larger or smaller according to the needs of the users.

The first-floor room diagrams show several possible layouts, indicating how spaces can be reconfigured for meetings, workshops, conferences, reading groups or smaller gatherings. This flexibility allows the library to serve many different types of public activity. It can function as a quiet study environment during the day, a cultural venue in the evening and a social gathering space during community events.

This makes the project particularly relevant to contemporary public library architecture, where buildings must serve diverse communities and remain useful across decades of social change.

The Ground Floor: Books, Events and Everyday Encounters

The ground floor is the main public level of Biblio. Visitors enter near the bookshop, positioned on the left side of the entrance. This bookshop introduces the library experience through a commercial and cultural threshold, connecting visitors immediately with the world of reading.

The reception desk, toilets, stairs and elevator are placed to organize movement through the building. From there, visitors are guided toward the amphitheater, the largest and most active zone on the ground floor. The amphitheater is designed not only for book lovers, but also for music concerts, theatrical plays, lectures, presentations and collective activities.

This strategy turns the library into a multipurpose public interior. People can sit, read, listen, debate or attend events in the same space. The amphitheater also supports visual connection across levels, helping the building feel open and socially connected rather than compartmentalized.

Above this main space, the balcony creates another reading zone. Visitors can sit beside the railings, read in a quieter setting or observe the activity below. The mezzanine level above the reception desk provides a calmer place for individual study, work and relaxation. It can be reached by stairs or by an electric ramp, supporting access for elderly visitors and wheelchair users.

Inclusivity Through Form and Program

Inclusivity is one of the central values of Biblio. The design promotes access through both spatial planning and architectural character. The building is intended for all users: children, elderly people, readers, students, workers, families, visitors and community groups.

The children’s library gives younger users a dedicated space within the larger public building. The ramps, elevator and open circulation support accessibility. The amphitheater, meeting rooms and reading areas provide a wide range of social and individual experiences, allowing people to use the library according to their own needs.

Rather than defining the library through one dominant user group, Biblio creates multiple points of entry into knowledge and culture. Someone can come to read silently, another person can join a public discussion, another can work on a laptop and another can attend a performance. This layered program gives the building its inclusive civic identity.

Architecture That Connects Interior and Exterior Life

The visual language of Biblio is defined by transparency, lightness and structural expression. The images show a building wrapped in glass, metal and timber, with diagonal bracing patterns that create a dynamic facade. These crossed elements give the building a recognizable identity while filtering views between inside and outside.

The front and back of the building include large glass installations that allow sunlight to enter the interior. These glass zones are not static envelopes. They include rotating parts that can open manually or automatically according to outdoor temperature. In case of emergency, the glass doors can open widely to help people exit safely.

This creates an architecture that responds to climate, safety and atmosphere. In warmer periods, the building can open itself to air and movement. In colder or rainy conditions, it can close and protect the interior. This ability to adapt is essential to the project’s idea of an evolutionary library.

Roof Terrace as a Social and Green Space

The roof level is one of the most expressive parts of the proposal. The rooftop includes vegetation, timber structures and glass surfaces, producing a soft, garden-like environment above the main library. Renderings show people gathering under greenery and lights, turning the roof into a space for informal meetings, events and social activity.

The wooden structure at the roof level matches the metal and glass structure of the walls, creating continuity between material systems. The rooftop is not treated as a leftover surface. It becomes an active public layer, capable of hosting gatherings, protecting users from excessive sun or rain and extending the library’s cultural program vertically.

This roofscape strengthens the project’s identity as a public building that supports both knowledge and social life. It also adds an important environmental and atmospheric quality to the architecture, softening the urban form with planting and shaded activity.

A Compact Landmark for Girona

The project is designed for Girona, but its concept is described as universally applicable. The structure has three main floors and a basement, with a total height of no more than 20 meters. It is planned to accommodate around 100 people and support many different events.

The city-context image shows Biblio positioned within a green urban site, surrounded by roads, trees and nearby buildings. Its compact footprint and adaptable form allow it to sit within an existing neighborhood fabric without overwhelming it. The building becomes a civic marker, but not an isolated monument. It is inserted into everyday city life.

Its form, material palette and public program allow it to act as both a destination and a neighborhood facility. This is where the proposal becomes especially strong as public library architecture: it understands the library as infrastructure for daily life, not just as a symbolic institution.

Structure, Material and Assembly

Biblio uses a combination of wood, metal and glass to create a building that appears both warm and contemporary. The wooden surfaces bring a sense of comfort to the interior, particularly around the amphitheater, book areas and roof terrace. The metal structure provides strength and legibility, while the glass envelope creates transparency and visual openness.

The project also emphasizes the ease of producing and assembling the structural system. The metal and wood elements support the idea of a flexible, adaptable and repeatable building model. This matters because the design is not only proposed for one site. Its authors describe it as a library model that could fit different cities and communities.

The architectural expression is therefore tied to practical construction logic. It is not only an aesthetic gesture. It supports the larger ambition of creating a flexible civic building that can respond to public needs.

A New Model for Reading and Social Development

The FAQ material associated with the project clarifies the design’s social ambition. Biblio is intended to promote reading, socialization, co-working and the exchange of ideas. The amphitheater acts as the primary space for public discussion and cultural activity, while additional rooms support meetings, workshops and knowledge exchange.

This is an important shift in library design. The project does not separate reading from social life. Instead, it suggests that reading culture becomes stronger when the library also supports community bonds. Books remain central, but they are surrounded by events, conversations, performances and shared civic experiences.

In this sense, Biblio offers a valuable model for the future of public library architecture. It recognizes that people come to libraries for knowledge, but also for belonging.

Evolutionary Public Architecture

Biblio is described as an evolutionary building because it can adapt through time. Walls can be removed or reinstalled. Glass installations can open or close according to weather and season. The amphitheater can support different events. The rooftop can host public activity while responding to climate needs.

This capacity for change makes the project more than a fixed architectural object. It becomes a system for future use. As community needs shift, the building can shift with them. That quality gives Biblio its contemporary relevance.

The proposal understands that public buildings must survive changing cultural patterns, technologies and social behaviors. By combining flexibility, accessibility, modularity and civic programming, Biblio positions the library as an open platform for urban life.

Biblio by Nicolaos Nicolaou and Nicodesign, a Shortlisted entry of BookMark 2020, presents a compelling vision for the future of the library. It transforms the traditional reading room into a flexible public environment where knowledge, culture, work and social life overlap.

Its amphitheater, bookshop, children’s library, reading areas, adaptable rooms, accessible circulation and rooftop social spaces all contribute to a broader idea of the library as a shared civic home. The project’s transparent facade, expressive bracing, warm timber surfaces and green rooftop create an architectural identity that is open, welcoming and adaptable.

As an example of contemporary public library architecture, Biblio is not only about storing books. It is about rebuilding the relationship between people, reading and the city. It proposes a library for all, one that can grow with its community and continue to bring people together through culture, conversation and knowledge.