Rem Koolhaas' firm OMA has completed the Qatar National Library (QNL) in Doha, the "single-roomed" building aims to revive the traditional reading culture by "only creating single space" that can be accessible from every direction of the building. 

Officially opened to the public on April 16, 2018 with the participation of  the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, and the CEO of the Qatar Foundation, Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al Thani, the new building contains Doha's National Library, Public Library and University Library, and preserves the Heritage Collection, which consists of valuable texts and manuscripts related to the Arab-Islamic civilization. 

Image © Iwan Baan – OMA

The public library houses over a million books and space for thousands of readers over an area of 42,000 square meters. Developed as part of the Education City, a new academic campus hosts satellite campuses from leading universities and institutions from around the world. 

Image © Iwan Baan – OMA

Other OMA-designed buildings on the new campus include the Qatar Foundation Headquarters and a new branch for the Research Institute. The Qatar National Library was led by Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Iyad Alsaka, Vincent Kersten and Gary Owen.

The building has a very compact form that can offer only "one reading space" throughout the building, in order to stimulate traditional act in an open layout. To create such a kind of volume, the edges of the building are lifted from the ground creating three aisles which accommodate the book collection and, at the same time, enclose a central triangular space. 

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

This configuration also allows the visitor to access the building at its center, rather than laboriously entering from the perimeter. The aisles are designed as a topography of shelving, interspersed with spaces for reading, socializing and browsing. 

The bookshelves are meant to be part of the building both in terms of materiality – they are made of the same white marble as the floors – and infrastructure – they incorporate artificial lighting, ventilation, and the book return system.

Image by Hans Werlemann © OMA

"We designed the space so you can see all the books in a panorama. You emerge immediately surrounded by literally every book – all physically present, visible, and accessible, without any particular effort. The interior is so large it’s on an almost urban scale: it could contain an entire population, and also an entire population of books," said Rem Koolhaas.

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

A column-free bridge connects the library’s main aisles, allowing for a variety of routes throughout the building. The bridge is also a meeting space: it hosts media and study rooms, reading tables, exhibition displays, a circular conference table, and a large multipurpose auditorium, enclosed by a retractable curtain designed by Amsterdam studio InsideOutside, who were also responsible for the landscaping.

Image © Iwan Baan – OMA

"Classically, libraries were vibrant spaces for the exchange of knowledge. With the immediate accessibility of information in the current era, the library’s role as public meeting space is more significant than ever," said Ellen van Loon, Partner at OMA.

"We pay tribute to the region’s rich culture with the Heritage Library, excavated from the ground like an archeological site, holding historical and priceless Islamic texts for visitors to study and contemplate," she added.

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

The heritage collection is situated at the center of the library in a six-meter-deep excavated-like space, cladded in beige travertine. The collection can also operate autonomously, directly accessible from the outside.

The audio used the corrugated-glass façade filters the otherwise bright natural light, creating a tranquil atmosphere for reading. The diffuse light is directed further into the core of the building by a reflecting aluminium ceiling.Outside, a sunken patio provides light to the staff office space in the basement, and at the same time acts as transition space before entering the world of books.

Image by Hans Werlemann © OMA

"The library is a testimony to Qatar’s significant regional role and influence in bridging knowledge, tolerance and greater dialogue within the region and to a global reach. QNL is an extraordinary public space in the region that will promote knowledge sharing, physically and digitally," said Iyad Alsaka, OMA's Middle East and Africa Partner. 

Image © Iwan Baan – OMA

Qatar National Library plays a central role in the Education City, a project initiated by Her Highness Shiekha Mozah and the Qatar Foundation as part of Qatar’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. 

The master plan, designed by Arata Isozaki in 1995 and inaugurated in 2003, consists of education and research facilities, including branches of internationally acclaimed universities and the headquarters of the Qatar Foundation, also designed by OMA and completed in 2016.

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

Image © Iwan Baan – OMA

Image by Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti © OMA

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Qatar National library is the latest expression of OMA’s long-term interest in the library, which goes back to the competition for the National Library of France in 1989. Following the Seattle Central Library in the US and the Bibliothèque Alexis de Tocqueville in Caen, France, this is the third library built by OMA.

Project facts

Project name: Qatar National Library

Location: Doha, Qatar

Site: Qatar Education City

Client: Qatar Foundation

Program

Collections: 21.000 m2

Reading space: 3500 m2

Exhibition space: 1500 m2 

Administration and offices: 3.000 m2 

Children’s Library: 800 m2 

Restaurant: 600 m2

Special Event Area: 600 m2

Capacity: Capacity of displaying more than one million books/The Library currently hosts a little more than 800,000 volumes

Partners in charge: Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Iyad Alsaka

Associate in charge: Kunle Adeyemi, Tom Coronato

Executive Team and on Site Team: Vincent Kersten, Gary Owen

Design Team SD, DD and CD: Sebastian Appl, Laura Baird, Andrea Bertassi, Helen Billson, Benito Branco,Nils Christa, Daniel Colvard, Tom Coronato, Anita Ernodi, Clarisa Garcia-Fresco, Dina Ge, Mauricio Gonzales, Bermy Ho, Vincent Kersten, Keigo Kobayashi, Dimitri Koubatis, Jang Hwan Lee, Oliver Luetjeus, Bimal Mendis, JoaquinMillan Villamuelas, Barbara Modolo, David Nam, Sebastian Nau, Rocio Paz Chavez, Francesca Portesine, Teo Quintana, Miriam Roure Parera, Peter Richardson, Silvia Sandor, Tjeerd van de Sandt, Louise Sullivan, Anatoly Travin, Yibo Xu.

Executive team and on site team: Vincent Kersten, Gary Owen.

Collaborators

Sub-Consultants: ARUP

Acoustics: DHV

Façade: ABT

Cost analyst: David Langdon

Interior, Curtains, Landscape: Inside Outside 

Construction Document Phase: CCDI

Dates:

Design development: 2008 - 2010 

Start of construction: September 2012

Completion: September 2017

Top image © Iwan Baan – OMA

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