Fei River Central Smart Garden Library: A New Definition of Public Lifestyle

Reimagining the Relationship Between Buildings, Landscape, and the Public

The library is situated in the living center of the project and on the urban green axis. This strategic location not only facilitates the daily life of residents but also brings more people to the library, thereby enriching the neighborhood’s culture. The private courtyard of the library and the surrounding urban greenbelt form a natural "green lung" of the whole project, providing ample public spaces for the surrounding residents.

The design of the library is a blend of art and technology. The use of black, white, and gray color gives the building a sculptural look, while the brown color adds a sense of warmth. The interweaving of glass and the flow of water dispels the dullness of the building. The glass connects indoor and outdoor spaces, brings changes of light and shadow, creates a dialogue between space and time, and makes the building look like a floating island in the city.

The design starts from a cube and through different construction techniques, after reduction and overlay, it finally finishes with a curved interface in the main body, subtly adapting to the surrounding environment. The distribution of patches and the volume size change with the angle, making the whole building look interesting and dynamic. One side of the building faces the water, seems light and floating with the reflection in the water; another side faces the roads, on that side the main body looks stretched, calm, and smooth.

Inside the library, the courtyard and the interior space are intersected in an order. The plants bring the inner space a natural and pleasant atmosphere. The primary and secondary courtyards interact with each other, enrich the vision of the readers and visitors, and ease their eyestrain. The internal and external space are separated by glass. On the first floor, high-transparent glass is used to create a sense of transparency, and to make it looks like a “floating island”. On the second floor, frosted glass is used to reflect vaguely, in order to create a sense of privacy. The blurry boundary between inside and outside brings an intimate relationship between people and space.

The design of the library faced several challenges, including maintaining a proper proportion of the facade and ensuring a good visual perception. The large-span and column-free space is both aesthetically pleasing and energy-saving. To save the cost, the arc wall structure was assembled by 1200 meters wide modular units, which made of stones in 600 meters wide and 1025 meters high, and then the modular units were combined to form the curvature of the entire facade.

The Fei River Central Smart Garden Library was awarded Golden in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2019. This award is granted to marvelous, outstanding, and trendsetting creations that reflect the designer's prodigy and wisdom. They are venerated products and bright ideas that advance art, science, design, and technology, embodying extraordinary excellence and significantly impacting the world with their desirable characteristics.