Originally a dairy estate and now serving as the Technical Town Hall, the historical timbered house was selected to host the new city library along with a contemporary annex. Due to the original building’s protected 18th century structure, reconstruction measures had to comply with official regulations for listed buildings.

Our plan honours the building’s historical significance and expands it through a solitary construction, creating a coherent concept with regards to urban development and interior design. The “booktower”, a monolithic, yet highly contextual annex, complements the historical building’s piecemeal timbre structure, drawing on the same design elements and colour schemes as the original construction. In this way, we achieve a homogeneous integration into the small-scale surrounding. The main entrance purposely remains within the area of the ancient arched porch, as it emphasises the building’s historical significance in this new context. By implementing easily recognisable sites, our design concept bears in mind the complex organisational structure and wide-ranging demands of a city library. The reader’s journey begins on the old building’s ground floor - an open distribution zone - where the entrance, book entry system, coffee shop and reading area are located. For the new building, we transformed the typology of a historical library tower into a modern concept of reading and communication space. With a large and inviting gesture, an air space connects the floors and offers stimulating cross-references across all departments and levels. Embraced by book shelves, we celebrate “books” as a media. Along the inner parapet, the library offers countless places to rest, study, pause or simply enjoy. The visually connected experience of communality invites the visitor to immerge into the scenery and become a part of the event.

Schorndorf’s new city library is a place of encounters and discoveries. With no intimidation, but a lot of composure.