Case Study Visit 01- Peckham Library

Peckham is a large area in South London composed of many communities including Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Turkish and Indian amongst others. Arriving at Peckham Rye Station at around 10:30am I proceeded to take a brief walk down Rye Lane towards Will Alsop's Peckham Library which was awareded the Stirling Prize in 2000. The mix of cultures is instantly obvious from the people on the streets and the local shops. Peckham has a bad reputation, due to some high profile crimes including the murder, in November 2000, of Damilola Taylor. Despite this I never felt at risk here, it seems a friendly area and I wonder if it's reputation is undeserved?

Peckham Library is 5 minutes walk from Peckham Rye and is the stand out modern building in the area, it's upside down 'L' shape creating a pleasant public space on the ground floor and a busy meeting and resting place for the community.




The top floor holds the, relatively modest sized, public library and reading rooms thus elevating the quiet rooms away from the noise of the street. The ground floor houses a neighbourhood 'One Stop Shop' and security office; the first floor has staff facilities and media facilities; the second floor is home to the local history library; the third floor provides access to the main library and children's library and finally the 4th floor access to the study pods which sit in the main library space (as shown in the photo below).


There are three of these study pods, one is for general study and the other two are available as spaces for private and public use. Whilst there I attempted to talk to a few people to garner their views on the area and the library; unfortunately nobody was particularly enthusiastic about talking to me although I did manage to spend 5 minutes with the Premises Manager. She told me that although user numbers have dropped by approximately 50 000 since the opening couple of years the library is still very busy and the community still very much love the building. She told me that many people feel that the architect has provided a building which really enhances the community, she said it feels like 'somebody cared'.

The building, from my brief time there, seems to be successful; it's busy and the facilities it provides are of great benefit to the community of Peckham and there are lessons to be learnt here for my project. The simple task of placing the library space on the top floor away from the busy street works well and the study pods add an element of excitement and exploration. The inclusion of the 'One Stop Shop' and it's continued success shows that it is possible to mix neighbourhood essentials with desires, bringing people to one place to perform tasks and enjoy activities is an important technique to incorporate.