Competition Entry for Centre 33 to repurpose the Former Mill Road Library

AC Architects participated in a competition for Centre 33, to put forward proposals for the repurposing of the former Mill Road Library.

Centre 33 is a charity that specialise in supporting young people experiencing a range of health and social issues.

For this competition, Centre 33 were looking to put forward a bid to purchase the Grade II Listed former late-Victorian Library on Mill Road, and to develop it to use as their base within Cambridge. As part of the bid, a development strategy for the building was required. Spaces for meeting were needed in a range of scales, from 1-1 private meeting rooms to larger group activity spaces, alongside the associated ancillary and service accommodation. A key requirement was to ensure an inviting entrance space, where ‘young people feel safe, calm and protected in a warm welcoming environment.’

There were several constraints to the existing building, with no outdoor space, the building hard up against the boundary on its east façade, no existing heating or insulation, and tall single glazed windows on the west façade, it was challenging to fit the required accommodation into the existing volume whilst meeting the required thermal performance without impacting upon the historic fabric.

Our strategy for the development sought to insert a ‘building within a building’, physically separate from the listed building, to create a thermally efficient environment to the new spaces whilst conserving the existing building fabric. A mezzanine level was proposed in the large hall space to make use of the height whilst retaining visibility of the impressive barrel-vaulted ceiling, clerestorey glazing and lantern.

The new accommodation is an arrangement of lightweight modular meeting “pods” on the upper floor, with larger meeting and activity spaces at ground floor level either side of a central welcoming reception area. The existing cellar space was also converted into useable accommodation with lightwells bringing natural light down below ground.