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House of Wisdom (Sharjah Digital Library)

Architect: Foster + Partners
Location: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Type: Library
Year: 2021
Photographs: Chris Goldstraw

The following description is courtesy of the architects. Located on the Sharjah International Airport Road, ten kilometres from the city centre, the two-storey building embodies a sense of clarity and lightness, with a large floating roof cantilevering on all sides of a transparent rectilinear volume.  

The 15-metre-wide overhang shades the façades  throughout most of the day, while fixed aluminium  screens with differing densities filter the low sun in the evenings. Movable bamboo screens at low level  are deployed by the building users, to provide privacy or to control glare. When not in use the bamboo  screens are left open, preserving the visual connections  with the landscaped gardens. 

Visitors enter the building from its western edge into a double-height reception hub with a central courtyard that brings light to the interior spaces. This densely planted green area creates a comfortable outdoor environment for social events or quiet contemplation. The ground floor contains large spaces for exhibitions, a café alongside a children’s educational space, and  the archive and a reading area with facilities such as  an Espresso Book Machine that prints and binds books on-demand.  

The floating roof is supported by four cores that  also contain all the back-of-house and service spaces,  creating a large column-free floor plate. The two cores closest to the entrance contain large sculptural  staircases that guide people up to the mezzanine floor. The upper floor hosts a series of pod spaces  suspended above the central courtyard, which offer both quiet and collaborative spaces, exhibition areas  and reading lounges including a prayer room and a women-only area. Throughout the building, there is an emphasis on establishing and retaining a connection with the outside, looking onto the gardens surrounding the building. 

The landscape is divided into two sections – a knowledge garden and children’s playground to the  south, which has several native species and a water feature, alongside a more formal, geometrically arranged garden to the north containing The Scroll – a new piece of public art by British sculptor Gerry  Judah that is a contemporary interpretation of the ancient Arabic scrolls as a single, spiralling sculpture that loops towards the sky. 

“The House of Wisdom in Sharjah is a forward looking conception of what a library should be  in the 21^st century – embracing a digital future  while playing a crucial role as a community hub for learning, underpinned by innovation and technology. The straight, minimalist lines of the building  complement the dunes of the desert, set within a lush landscape. The House of Wisdom is set to be an oasis for the local community, led by  research and innovation, at the heart of a new cultural district.” 

Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio, Foster+ Partners

Project Details

Credits

• Client: Shurooq 
• Architect and Interiors: Foster + Partners 
• Foster + Partners Design Team: Gerard Evenden, John Blythe, Dara Towhidi, Ricardo Abreu, Rafael Alcantara, Eugenia Bandera, Souraya Fathallah, Matas Belevicius, Qishan Huang, Dimitri Chaava, Alvaro Ferrandiz, Joe Paxton, Juan Pommarez
• Local Collaborating Architect: Shurooq / Aurecon
• Main Contractor: McLaren 
• Structural Engineer: Aurecon 
• Mechanical Engineers: Aurecon 
• Cost Consultant: RLB 
• Landscape Consultant: Cracknell 
• Lighting Designer: Delta Lighting Design 
• Glazed Façade: Alico 
• Steel: Unger Steel 
• Aluminium Screens: Alba Tower 
• Internal Ceiling: Obaid Al Abd 
• Bamboo Shutters / FF&E: Poltrona Frau 
• Landscape: Green Concepts 
• External Concrete Paving: Lamar 
• Stone: Rio de Janeiro 
• Terrazzo Flooring: IKK
• Bookshelves and Internal Blinds: Eurosystems 
• MEP: Paramount 
• Joinery: Satco

Facts and Figures

• Construction start: 2018 
• Completion date: 2020 
• Site Area: 40,000m² 
• Net Internal Area: 13,000m²
• Number of buildings: 1 
• Number of Floors: 4 
• Building Dimensions: 
  • Height: 16m 
  • Length: 60m 
  • Width: 60m 
  • Roof: 90x90m with 15m cantilever
• Capacity: 1500 
• Facilities: Library, Internal courtyard garden, Café, Exhibition space, Entertainment space, Reading lounge, Children’s educational space, Prayer room, Women-only area, Children’s playground 
• Parking facilities: 
  • Cars: 120
  • Coaches: 1 
  • Disabled: 4 
• Structure: Concrete and steel work
• Facade: Steel stick system with  a steel adapter
• Perforated aluminium shading screens
• Foundations: raft slab. 
• Materials: Concrete, Glass, Aluminium, Stone, Terrazzo, Timber, Steel 
• Wellbeing: Two large public gardens on both sides of  the Library (North and South) with ‘The  Scroll’ a monument by Gerry Judah in the  North Garden. 
• Sustainability: 
  • To give protection from the middle eastern harsh sun a 15m cantilevered shades the façades. 
  • Fixed aluminium screens filter low sun in the evenings. 
  • Movable bamboo screens at low level control glare. 
  • Central courtyard brings light to the interior spaces and creates a comfortable outdoor environment for social events. 
  • Throughout the building, there is an emphasis on establishing and retaining a connection with the outside. 
• Monument:
  • ‘The Scroll’ Monument was erected to start the celebration of Sharjah as UNESCO 2019 – World Book Capital. 
  • Artist: Gerry Judah, British Sculptor
  • Height: 36m 
  • • Materials: 72 tonnes of steel. 
  • 240 tonne concrete foundation. 
  • Inspiration: The Scroll is a contemporary interpretation of the ancient Arabic scrolls – a single, spiralling sculpture that loops towards the sky. The design and inspiration are representative of a celebration of reading and the power of books to unite people, is central to the purpose of the library and that of the UNESCO World Book Capital initiative. The sculpture stands at the front of the  Library amongst landscaped gardens and shaded walkways.