Golden E-bib in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe

The community of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, nearby Brussels, has recently opened a double E-library. This building sets a new standard for ecological and energy efficient public buildings. The first passivhaus library of Belgium. Passivhaus? Well this comes from German and refers to a rigorous standard for energy efficiency in a buildings, reducing its ecological footprint.  Brussels has one of the highest energy standards when it comes to new buildings and this Library in a residential area of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe/Woluwe-Saint-Pierre is a great example.

The building is completely covered in gold coloured plates. This refers to the golden letters that can be found back in old manuscripts from the middle ages. On the outside the little windows add a playful rhythm to the facade, inside bigger windows look out on the patio garden. In summer this garden will be accessible to the public, so they can enjoy reading a book outside.

The inside of the building is more modest than the outside. Existing shelving has been reused but the space has been updated with fresh new furniture. The library snakes around the inner garden and is dotted with some appealing reading spaces and meeting points. It’s this kind of small scale project that makes the difference for the people.