A Discrete Transformation with Increased Accessibility and Sustainable Materials

Västerås City Library was designed by Sven Ahlbom in 1956 in a functionalist and monumental style with a brick façade, inlaid motifs and a large, abstract exterior mosaic. For the refurbishment of the children’s library, Marge was tasked with creating a well-thought-out environment with increased accessibility and orientation. The rooms have been designed to provide a creative environment that fosters curiosity and reading, where families can meet unconditionally. The environment also aims to make peer learning available for children and young adults and the idea is that visitors will experience that there is a context, a red thread between the children’s and young adult’s sections.

In addition to the refurbishment, the rooms have been designed with a clear idiom and varied materiality. We were commissioned to create a fairytale forest with references to Västerås’s archipelago and the nearby nature reserve. This is reflected in the seating steps designed as islands/contour lines that are reflected in a ceiling mirror of a related design. Arched bookshelves create welcoming room formations and varied nooks entice smaller children to explore the spatial possibilities. The design language can be linked to the building’s original elements of rounded shapes that encounter rectilinear forms and the new interior’s colourway, textiles and bespoke furniture in keeping with the details, patterns and colour scheme of the existing interior. The building’s original mosaic and tactility have inspired the interior composition of sustainable materials. The palette comprises wood, solid cork and board materials of recycled composite packaging. The furniture and book display units have been painted and reused.