a single table can become the extension of the bar, or when placed together, the tables can become a stage or catwalk with the adjacent stairs as a tribune. the site’s old railway tracks are used to move three large wheeled ‘train’ tables. Visible from passing trains, the city café features a bar with red, brown, and gold ceramic tiles and a neon LocHal logo. the largest screens, 50 meters across and 15 meters high, can be used to conceal the coffee kiosk or create the perfect backdrop for it. these screens have a total surface area of 4,125 square meters and can be re-positioned using a computerized system. these extend to ceiling height, thus accentuating the scale of the building while also defining separate areas and improving the acoustic properties of the interior. one floor higher is a large balcony offering panoramic views of the city.Īs certain events and activities may call for a smaller scale or a degree of privacy, inside outside has designed six huge textile screens. on the second floor, the gallery and stairways allow closer inspection of the historic glass walls as visitors browse the bookcases or make use of the quiet reading areas.

these steps lead up into the main building, notable for the huge glass facades which allow for plentiful daylight. this square is flanked by broad steps which can be used as event seating for over one thousand spectators. the entrance hall takes the form of a covered city square with large public reading tables (doubling as podia), an exhibition area and a coffee kiosk. with the addition of robust new architecture and huge textile screens. much of the elegant industrial building has been conserved. The former locomotive shed has been transformed into a public meeting place with a distinct railway theme. the interior design of the library, the various ‘laboratories’, the café and offices are by mecanoo, while the engineering consultancy arup advised on aspects such as sustainability, re-use and acoustic design. The building’s design is the result of close collaboration between civic architects (lead architect), braaksma & roos architectenbureau (restoration), and inside outside/petra blaisse (interior concept and curtains).

the building, which dates back to 1932, contains bibliotheek midden-brabant (the public library), kunstloc brabant (a regional knowledge and expertise center for culture and art), brabant C (a regional investment fund for culture and the creative industry) and seats2meet (a series of co-working spaces). Described as tilburg’s ‘new living room’, the LocHal is a converted locomotive hall that now houses a major new library for the dutch city.

Chief architect wood flooring library