Every year, the Dutch Design Awards (DDA) honors the best Dutch designers and their most impressive and groundbreaking projects. Various disciplines, viewpoints and solutions are judged in light of the impact they have on our society. The LocHal is nominated in the category Habitat. The winners will be announced June 12.
The jury about the LocHal: “Transforming industrial heritage and giving it a new meaning is a delicate task. With LocHal, the clients and designers involved have successfully integrated respect for the existing building with a completely new programme. The well-considered mixture of – sometimes contrasting – untouched artefacts from the old building and new additions and spatiality is impressive. Traditional details, new sightlines and the use of textile architecture, for example, contribute to a surprising and peasant space and ambience. The result is functional, as well as imposing and inviting. Alongside the physical result, the underlying multidisciplinary collaboration has also contributed to the nomination decision. After all, the LocHal provides an inviting perspective to other similar buildings and locations in our country.”
An international jury consisting of members from relevant sections of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) selected the LocHal as one of four libraries that will be considered for selection as the world’s best new public library. A total of 16 libraries from all over the world applied to be considered for this international award. The winner of the 2019 IFLA/Systematic Public Library of the Year will be announced during the IFLA Annual Congress, which will take place on August 27 in Athens, Greece.
The jury about the LocHal: Bibliotheek LocHal sets the T in transformation and the jury is delighted to include it on the short list. LocHal’s repurposed train hall-library serve as a locomotive in urban transformation - a livingroom of the city that also attract new businesses. Large tapestries serve as flexible walls inside the building and tracks are left in the floor for giant community tables made from old pulleys. “Work with what you have” is a motto that permeates the project and this adaptive strategy applies to both the architecture, structural systems, climate control and energy use. Even the programming and projects are composed like this. The six theme labs in the LocHal are all created and realized with local partners and citizens.