Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Does the new library bring the Bilbao effect to Alexandrina?
“It’s another modern wonder of the world!” remarks Ismail Serageldin. Like Frank O. Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Spain, the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina, designed by Oslo’s Snøhetta A.S., has attracted major international attention. Library director and ex-boss of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin was comparing the edifice face extending obliquely into the earth, surrounded by reflective water and a wide  piazza, to the sun rising above the horizon – symbol of knowledge and enlightenment.
Egypt and UNESCO built Africa and Arabia’s largest library only several hundred metres from the site of its famous historical precedent. Designed by Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Craig Dykers and Christoph Kapeller, the structure provides plenty of space for the collection and maintenance of knowledge, in the full awareness that that knowledge could all too easily be lost again. “The building has been tilted around an axis: one part pushed into the ground; the other protruding from it, revealing the layers of history lying below the surface”, Thorsen describes the basic design principle. Although 160m in width and 33 m high, the library is not overpowering. The external Aswan granite walls are covered by symbols from 120 writing systems. The transparent upper side slants northwards, is constructed from aluminium and glass and spans the world’s largest reading room. Natural light is everywhere. Sunlight falls through the blue and green glass in the roof. Seven terraces supported by narrow columns can accommodate 1,700 users.
Egyptian structural specialists Hamza Associates were consulted during construction. “I’ve rarely been involved in a project requiring so few design and specification changes”, says Director Mahmoud Hamza. Only 30 metres separate the library from the Mediterranean. Its deepest sections lie 18 m underground and 12 m below sea level, calling for sophisticated structural
measures. Library stocks had to be wellprotected against both water and fire. To guarantee this protection and user comfort, the architects turned to DORMA. The fire protection and smoke check concept includes TS 93 cam-action door closers and ITS 96 integrated door closers, some with electromechanical hold-open, plus BTS 80 and BTS 80F floor springs.

Prominent Features

To realise convenience and protection DORMA Door Control products are integrated in the concept of Bibliotheca Alexandrina.