Mediatheque in Lille by Tank Architectes

In the La Madeleine district of the northern suburbs of the French city of Lille, a new media library has been created. The design was executed by the local studio Tank Architectes, which reconstructed and expanded the former police station for the needs of the new library. The media library is intended primarily for community gatherings and education for the local population of twenty thousand. The original two-story police station now serves as a visitor center. The main supporting structure has been carefully reconstructed, and some of the internal partition walls have been removed. A passage was created in the center of the building, providing access to the café, exhibition room, and lecture hall. Behind the former police station, a new glass multi-story building with book shelves and reading rooms has been added. The newly attached low section features a roof landscape composed of played tin skylights resembling triangular pyramids with cut-off tips. The main strengths of the new extension are seen by its authors "in the unique atmosphere combining warmly cozy reading rooms and the diffused lighting of industrial buildings."

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