House of Wisdom, designed by Foster + Partners, recently opened its doors to the public in United Arab Emirate's "digital future city", Sharjah. Located on the Sharjah International Airport Road, House of Wisdom has a massive overhanging roof and a translucent façade that “embodies a sense of clarity and lightness”. The two-storey structure comprises a library, café, prayer room, an internal courtyard garden, spaces for events and exhibitions, shared and individual reading lounges, an educational and play space for children, as well as parking areas. It also features a high-tech, "book espresso machine" that can print and bind books on demand.

The project seeks to be the catalyst for a new cultural quarter in the city of Sharjah, and is aimed at becoming the central focus of the UNESCO World Book Capital celebrations, an annual event that promotes reading in the city that the event is hosted in.

The roof of the rectilinear volume cantilevers 15m in all directions to shade the façades which receive a lot of sun throughout the day. The translucent skin will also be affixed with perforated aluminium panels of varying densities to filter the evening sun. Adjustable bamboo screens are placed at the lower level to control glare and add privacy. When these are not in use, the bamboo screens are left open, “preserving the visual connections with the landscaped gardens,” shares the firm. The form reaches a height of 16m, spans 60m in length and has a capacity of 1,500.

“The House of Wisdom in Sharjah is a forward-looking conception of what a library should be in the 21st century – embracing a digital future while playing a crucial role as a community hub for learning, underpinned by innovation and technology,” says Gerard Evenden, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners.

House of Wisdom greets visitors at the library’s western, light-filled, double-height reception courtyard. Dense greens placed here induce a semi-comfortable outdoor environment for relaxation and social events. The ground floor includes expansive spaces to host exhibitions, the café which sits adjacent to a children’s educational room and the archive and a reading area with the fun espresso book machine.

Four cores that contain service spaces support the overhanging roof, which makes it possible to form a large, column-free floorplate. The two cores closest to the entrance host two hefty sculptural staircases that usher people up to the mezzanine floor. The interiors of the floor that floats above receive natural light from the central courtyard and feature a series of pod spaces. Here one can find a mix of both contemplative and collaborative areas, including exhibition rooms, reading lounges, prayer rooms and a space demarcated only for women.

The landscaping has been planned in two sections – a 'knowledge garden' and a children’s playground to the south that features many native species and a water pocket. These are placed beside a more formal, geometrically arranged garden to the north which contains The Scroll – a new piece of public art by British sculptor Gerry Judah that sits next to the library. This silvery steel sculpture spirals towards the sky as a contemporary interpretation of ancient Arabic scrolls.

“The straight, minimalist lines of the building complement the dunes of the desert, set within a lush landscape. The House of Wisdom is set to be an oasis for the local community, led by research and innovation, at the heart of a new cultural district,” Evenden concludes.

Project Details

Name: House of Wisdom (Sharjah Digital Library)
Location: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Site Area: 40,000 sqm
Year of Completion: 2020
Client: Shurooq
Architect and Interior Design: Foster + Partners
Design Team: Gerard Evenden, John Blythe, Dara Towhidi, Ricardo Abreu, Rafael Alcantara, Eugenia Bandera, Souraya Fathallah, Matas Belevicius, Qishan Huang, Dimitri Chaava, Alvaro Ferrandiz, Joe Paxton, Juan Pommarez

(Text by Sharmin Oanali, intern at STIRworld.com)