‘This library is a triumph of excellent design, enthusiasm and urban renewal. I believe the library will prove to be a beacon of design excellence... All those involved can take great pride in what they have achieved.’

Lord Falconer on Bournemouth Library
- Winner of Prime Minister’s Award (2003)

DOWNLOADS

click here for pdf case study

Winner of the 2003 Prime Minister’s Award for Better Public Building—Bournemouth Library was described by Lord Thoroton as a “beacon of design excellence.”

Built on a former derelict site, the £10 million contract spanning over 87,000 sq ft over four floors was awarded to main contractor KIER (IEI) who sub-contracted the electrical content to Batchelor Electrical Ltd.

The 26-week project was slashed to 13-weeks by the main contractor due to weather restrictions in the initial construction stage.

A key feature to the design of the building centred around creating a visually striking landmark and at the same time being an eco-friendly structure.

As part of the ‘Part L: Building Conservation of Fuel and Power’ innovative high-tech lighting installed by Batchelor Electrical Ltd was fully automated allowing lighting to be automatically dimmed via photo cells with the natural light levels from the sun flooding into the building. In addition, the lighting in the aisles would also be reduced via a passive infra-red sensor (PIR) when movement was not detected.

The high content of glass produced a striking contemporary piece of architecture which allowed for the artificial lighting to be kept to a bare minimum and thus reducing operating costs.