Noreen & Kenneth Murray Library

Austin-Smith:Lord was appointed as Lead Consultants to undertake two parallel projects on King’s Building campus to create enhanced teaching and study environments for the College of Science and Engineering. Both projects were designed in response to thorough client and end user consultation and enshrine the new pedagogic methods being applied by the University.

The new build £4m Noreen & Kenneth Murray Library on the site of the demolished Robertson Library Building links into the retained KB Centre. The Library is a new studying and social hub on the campus, a landmark building providing a dynamic array of teaching and learning environments with the backdrop of the Campus Green.

Austin-Smith:Lord has developed a design with a two-storey ‘Podium Hub’ on the lower levels with a cafe, soft study and meeting areas for discussion and debate. On the higher levels there are a series of quieter and acoustically separated study spaces. There also exists an opportunity for an outdoor study environment on a second floor roof terrace area overlooking the Campus Green.

The Noreen & Kenneth Murray Library follows on from the very well received Learning and Teaching Cluster located within the refurbished Level 3 of the James Clerk Maxwell Building. The £1m LTC project was delivered over two phases within a live building environment and has transformed the 1960s building into a ICT and AV rich learning and teaching environment that responds to the needs of academics and students alike.