Community Library opens in Rajshahi
The Community Library in Shaheb Bazar opened to readers on 1 December. It has a reading hall for 120, a children's room, four study rooms and an events room that opens onto the forecourt.
How it was built
The building went up in four stages, each finished before the next began, so that a small site team could work without the trades getting in each other's way.
- Piling and the ground slab
- The brick spine wall and the service risers
- Steel columns and the roof trusses
- Clerestory glazing and fit-out
The roof
The roof is carried on steel trusses with timber purlins and a double layer of insulated metal sheet. The trusses were made in Dhaka, taken to site in halves and bolted together on the ground before a small crane lifted them onto the columns, two a day.
Readers find the room quiet even when it is full.
That was the head librarian's verdict after the first two weeks. The real test for the reading hall comes in April and May, the hottest months in Rajshahi.
Next
The forecourt will be planted after the monsoon, once the new drainage has settled. We will go back next summer to record how the rooms are used and how warm the hall gets.