Since the start of this country's economic boom, it has become a truism that Dublin is a city of building cranes. During the past decade, many of those structures have towered over Trinity College as Ireland's oldest educational institution underwent its largest and fastest expansion in terms of both student numbers and properties. Presumably there is a master plan for this development, although as yet its overall form remains unclear towards the east end of the campus where much of the work has been concentrated.
However, closer to the college's 18th century core a new building now nears completion and proves to be a triumphant addition to Trinity. Neatly tucked into a relatively tight space fronting primarily on to Nassau Street and College Park, the James Ussher Library somehow manages to be both discreet and supremely authoritative. The scheme was offered as a public competition in the summer of 1997 and initially attracted interest from such distinguished names as Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. In the event, the winning design came from two Dublin practices, McCullough Mulvin and KMD Architecture, which teamed up for the project. Thanks to their good manners, the library - constructed at a cost of almost £21 million (€26.7m) and running to 9,500 sq m - avoids the temptation to make its own overly bold statement, at least where the exterior is concerned. Instead, it offers a link, both literally and in design terms, between Trinity's Berkeley Library and the Arts Building.
Both these blocks were designed by the same architect, Paul Koralek of London-based Ahrends Burton and Koralek but otherwise they possess few common characteristics. And, more importantly in relation to the new building, the library accommodation in both had become hopelessly inadequate to Trinity College's requirements. Completed in 1967, the Berkeley, while smaller, is far more confident in spirit than the Arts Building, just over a decade later in date.
Because of its location, therefore, the James Ussher Library has to join the pair of Koralek works together and somehow discover a common architectural language that until now has appeared to elude them. The McCullough Mulvin/KMD Architecture partnership achieves this difficult feat by changing the face of the new block on each side, adapting to circumstances and the surrounding environment. Along the Nassau Street frontage, for example, the stepped nature of the Arts Building is continued by the three elements of the James Ussher Library.
Meanwhile, the facade looking on to College Park follows the same long line of the Berkeley Library, the latter's use of rough concrete for the lower section and Wicklow granite sheeting above and its characteristic of having the upper storeys jut out above their base. As further evidence of the self-effacing nature of the architectural partnership, the new library offers no grandiose entrance on its exterior. Instead, access will be through one or other of the Koralek blocks.
Between the Berkeley and James Ussher libraries a new podium plaza has been created, an addition to the college's existing wealth of enclosed open spaces, such as the adjacent Fellow's Square. The surface of this space is broken by two interventions - a mature tree and a glass pyramid providing light to the concourse beneath - both of which find their match on a similar raised terrace located on the building's Nassau Street side. Here, a new gateway between the campus and city is envisaged, although this will not be developed until after current work, adding a new storey to the Arts Building, is complete. In order to give large vehicles access to the back of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, the terrace and opening on to Nassau Street are to be linked by a bridge which can be raised whenever necessary.
This detail is probably the most flashy feature of the James Ussher Library's exterior: otherwise the building gives few indications of the surprises within. The architects describe their work as comprising three sculptural forms, which gently move back from Nassau Street and into the academic environment. The concrete and granite cladding is interrupted only twice: by a first-floor walkway linking one "sculptural form" - the conservation laboratory - with the rest of the structure; and by a glazed atrium running between the other two forms.
It is certain that the atrium will make the greatest impression on - and cause greatest delight to - the library's users. As though the building were a contemporary cathedral dedicated to learning, it rises no less than eight storeys, although this is not apparent from the outside because two of these floors are below ground level. The atrium runs between two major structures, the taller, granite-clad one to the west and therefore closer to the Arts Building being used for book storage while its easterly neighbour contains reading rooms and therefore has an abundance of glass offering views across College Park. Glass-fronted balconies open on to the atrium from every level, permitting both light and air to circulate freely through the entire space. The architects have gone to considerable trouble to encourage this circulation; typically, on the east side, an air management system will automatically open grilles above the windows when needed and circular vents in the flooring also introduce new cool air on each level.
The architects have been keen to provide not just fresh air but natural light to the library's users. So even on the lowest floor, some 12 metres below ground level, readers' desks receive daylight through glazed tubular concrete wells set into the ceiling. Climbing up from the basement, the reading rooms offer a variety of desk configurations providing an additional 750 places for Trinity's students.
The college librarian, Bill Simpson, wanted arrangements to be as flexible as possible due to constant changes in the provision of information. The architects have been responsible for most of the interior furnishing such as desks and bookcases, made in Belfast using black American walnut. The same timber is found as sheeted panelling on some walls to provide warmth in contrast with the exposed reinforced concrete found through much of the building. Within the reading room block, access to the stairwells is marked by walls encased in black ribbed rubber; the only other colour inside the library is a rich red carpet.
Across the atrium, the storage block - described by the architects as a Tower of Books - is due to double to approximately 800,000 the number of volumes on open shelving within Trinity College. On the lowest floor here, a new map library has been installed, a self-contained glass-fronted cube within the larger building. To emphasise its separate character, the wood used for panelling and furniture is a pale oak. Similarly a birch-faced plywood is found in the conservation laboratory block.
When the James Ussher Library opens to students in the new year, access will initially be only through the Arts Building's Lecky Library. A retractable screen opens from the older structure into a large orientation space, lit by the glass triangle which rises into the podium plaza above. However, over the coming months, a second - and more significant - opening is planned from the Berkeley Library into the new space. This will be located at the south end of the former and, taking account of different floor levels between the two blocks, is to feature a glass and steel staircase. What has until now been the Berkeley's basement is to be opened up and refurbished, together with the ground floor which will have its current bookshelves removed and a new counter installed; this work is being undertaken in consultation with Paul Koralek.
Internally and externally, the James Ussher Library is a major addition not just to Trinity College but to the capital's architectural stock. Within its setting, the building enhances both Fellow's Square and College Park. It manages to fulfil several important functions with grace and flair, and it does so without trumpeting indisputable merits. This is certainly Trinity's most important new work since the construction of its neighbour, the Berkeley Library, more than 30 years ago.
