Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries

A new cultural centre in the historic centre of Dunfermline. The competition winning design employs a top-lit internal street as the organising device, connecting the world’s first Carnegie Library to the new cafe, children’s library, reading room, museum and art galleries via a network of bridges. These invite the visitor to experience the building as an ‘architectural promenade’ culminating in a large, cube window framing a spectacular view of Dunfermline Abbey.

The building sits within a formally planted walled garden replacing a former car park. The elevation materials are layers of stone, oak and corten steel. The latter as a reference to the industrial history described within the museum and to acknowledge the locally born steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie, after who the building is named.