Downside Abbey Library

Library to Downside Abbey, built 1965-1970, designed by Francis Pollen of Brett and Pollen.

The building is a concrete-framed structure with a central cylindrical core from which floorplates radiate, supported on an internal ring of columns at the perimeter. The external cladding consists of limestone ashlar at the base, with bush-hammered concrete and engineering brick elsewhere. Glazing is in anodised aluminium frames.

The entire structure was designed to fit within an imaginary 60-foot cube. It has a square base, a circular pedestal, and rises to an octagonal main range. The central core provides vertical access, with a book lift contained within a central cylinder around which the stair winds, contained within a second cylinder.

The building stands to the east of the east wing of the monastery and is linked by a bridge. The structure is anchored to the ground by an ashlar-clad, battered square podium with blind north and south elevations. The eastern façade has a series of slit windows, whilst the western elevation features a central doorway with a slit window on either side. Above the podium, a squat ring of engineering brick marks the transition to the octagonal concrete forms: initially a narrow ring with continuous strip glazing, and then the deeper, double-height main range which projects above. This main range has full-height glazing in bronze frames with four-over-four lights. A squat cylinder forms the top floor with blind, bush-hammered elevations housing special collections. Angular concrete rainwater spouts project at the cardinal points, and the composition is topped by a triangular form housing the machinery for the book lift.

The public entrance is a pair of double doors on the ground floor of the west elevation of the podium. The principal entrance for the monks is via an elevated covered way, essentially an extension of the monastic enclosure, connected to the east wing of the monastery, which enters the library on the first floor. The walkway is supported by tapered, rusticated stone piers and has a concrete deck, timber and glazed sides, and a wide flat roof with timber fascia.

The building has five floors arranged around the central circular core containing the stair and book lift. The basement and ground floor, within the largely-blind square podium, contain book storage rooms. The monks' entrance at first-floor level provides access to the catalogue room, lecture room and WCs. Eight structural piers line the internal perimeter, with continuous clerestory glazing enabling walls to accommodate bookshelves. The main reading room above is a double-height space at 4.3 metres high, with a central octagonal mezzanine recessed from the glazed curtain wall. The octagonal plan provides the geometric framework for internal arrangement, with oak bookshelves radiating from the core to form eight bays at each level. The top floor contains special collections and is windowless, with 16 circular rooflights in concrete tubes blocked from above. Bookshelves line the walls of the perimeter and the core, with radial arms subdividing the space into eight bays.

The stair winds around the central cylinder of the book lift, enclosed within a second cylinder, and is lit from above. The covered walkway is plainly detailed internally.