Kempe Centre

This new Learning Resources Centre united the College Library with the Department of Computing in a new building looking out on the Kent countryside. 

Green values were fundamental to the design, combined with the underlying purpose of responding to technological developments in library management. 

The building was constructed with its long east and west faces between two existing rows of pleached trees. The trees help to protect the building from low sunshine in the summer months. The main library hall is naturally lit, with clerestory lighting falling between the bookstacks. 

The site was a very sensitive  one, on the edge of a traditional Kent village.