Designed to celebrate education and the learning process, the library of the Cité des Sciences at Lille University was designed in 1965 by French architect Noël Le Maresquier in collaboration with Jean Vergnaud. Soon, the round building became an icon for the campus, with its elaborate white volume, circular floorplan and views in all directions.
Fast forward some 50 years and the university library in Villeneuve d’Ascq was in urgent need of renovation; enter German architecture firm Auer Weber, which has just completed a detailed refurbishment of the modernist building, now renamed the ‘Learning Centre’.
Retaining the original building’s key characteristics and overall form, the architects worked hard to bring the generous reading and book storage areas into the 21st century, incorporating new technologies wherever needed.
The central library hall has always been flooded with light through a dome made of glass elements right at the cylindrical centre’s heart. As this was not up to modern thermal and acoustic standards, Auer Weber replaced it with a contemporary version that uses a metal structure and insulated glazing.
A new landscape design envelops the existing building. This combines planting, a discreet, low extension to the original building and a public square, aimed at becoming a new outdoors social space for the campus’ students. The extension contains a central entrance hall, an auditorium and three conference rooms, an exhibition space and the research-focused Xperium: a brand new area, where the students' research results will be presented to the public.
The new Learning Centre is scheduled to open its doors in September 2016, just in time for the new academic year.
The firm retained the existing library's iconic shape, while revamping the interiors and adding an extension and new landscaping
The new extension contains an entrance hall, an auditorium and three conference rooms, an exhibition space and a dedicated presentation area for student work
The library's generous reading and book storage areas were brought into the 21st century, incorporating new technologies wherever needed
An existing glass dome at the heart of the complex was replaced by a contemporary version that uses a metal structure and insulated glazing
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Auer Weber website
Photography: Aldo Amoretti
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Misfires and Monstrosities: three vehicular design disasters that show taste is in retreatFrom a multi-million dollar piece merchandise to a wretched Rolls-Royce, these are the low points of the year in transportation design
-
Thirty years after Dog Man Star, Brett Anderson looks back on Suede's album coversBrett Anderson talks cover art, photography and iconic imagery
-
A revamped Edinburgh apartment combines Californian-style modernism with modern craftArcher + Braun have transformed an apartment in a historic house with finely tuned contemporary additions and sympathetic attention to detail
-
A look inside the home of George Homsey, one of the fathers of pioneering California modernist community Sea RanchGeorge Homsey's home opens for the first time since his death, in 2019; see where the architect behind some of the designs for Sea Ranch, the pioneering California modernist community, lived
-
Soviet brutalist architecture: beyond the genre's striking imageSoviet brutalist architecture offers eye-catching imagery; we delve into the genre’s daring concepts and look beyond its buildings’ photogenic richness
-
Tour a warm and welcoming modernist sanctuary set on the edge of a Los Angeles canyonThe Rustic Canyon Residence by Assembledge and Jamie Bush brings together the very best of mid-century influences, with an added slice of contemporary Californian craft and style
-
Tour this Bel Vista house by Albert Frey, restored to its former glory in Palm SpringsAn Albert Frey Bel Vista house has been restored and praised for its revival - just in time for the 2025 Palm Springs Modernism Week Preview
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreatThis overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior
-
A new exhibition marks Chandigarh’s modernist legacy‘Celebrating the Capitol’, an exhibition of photographic work by architect Noor Dasmesh Singh, opens just in time for the famed modernist Indian city’s anniversary
