The design proposal for the Dar Al-Uloum Public Library complex is a vernacular community area demonstrating Abdulrahman Al Sudairy Cultural Centre’s pioneering ambition to reinvigorate life into the library in order to make the Centre, once again, a meaningful public place to promote learning and community engagement, thus creating inspirational civic spaces for all. The complex is designed taking into consideration the School, garden, library and Mosque, including parts of the available green space as a spacious urban unit of the Sakaka.

The project proposes to widen the garden area within the site, thus allowing the entire length of the building, including the library, to open into the exterior green space. This provides a unique experience for all the visitors, manoeuvring within the building fabric. The integration of building and nature, on both an aesthetic and functional level, allows the Architect to capitalize on the library’s site.
The site complex offers pedestrians a direct access to the library - an attractive space providing them with a vivid spatial design experience - where they can spend time, thereby transforming the area into a lively and complex new urban quarter. The library is omnipresent during the walk up the slope, which reinforces its expression as a public library and provides excellent potential for keeping some parts of the library open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Given the exterior temperatures of up to 50 degree Celsius, the Screened Door, provides the required protection from the sun with maximum light penetration and transparency. This facade incorporates ventilation and cooling for the building by means of Eco cooler system and through floor cooling. In this way, thermal comfort is increased, and energy consumption is significantly reduced. The result of applying this bioclimatic strategy will make it possible to reduce the interior temperature by 10 degrees, with no energy consumption and with satisfactory interior sunlight conditions.

Built-up area: 1,83,000 Sq.Ft.

Location: Sakaka, Saudi Arabia

Status: Proposal