University Library
A library conceived as an open cube around a living atrium: daylight, timber and community at the heart of a university campus.
For the international competition for the Central University Library in Podgorica, we proposed a building that invites people in rather than holding them back. Set between the Science and Technology Park and the faculties of Architecture, Biotechnology and Civil Engineering, it opens onto all four sides, so students, researchers and passers-by arrive from whichever direction they walk.
At its heart is an organic atrium that rises through every floor to a glazed skylight, drawing daylight deep into the plan and linking the levels visually. A gently circling ramp wraps the atrium, so every floor is reachable by everyone. Around it the programme unfolds: a public, interactive ground floor with gallery, café, bookshop and auditorium; a first floor for music, audio-visual production and a VR-AR lab; the reading rooms of the second floor; and, above, special collections, legacies and a research centre beneath a green roof ring.
The interior is warm laminated timber and soft light. The façade is a shading skin of brise-soleil, with solar panels on the roof, cross-ventilation and a green roof. Sustainability is built into the architecture rather than added to it. It is the same belief that guides our work on private collections: a place for books, art and ideas should feel generous, calm and alive.