My initial idea was to show a building’s function through form as an interpretation to - form follows function. When approaching the building from the city – it would reflect a classic house's form, but as you go through the building and are getting closer to the sea, the building’s form starts to change from a house section to a simplified ship section.

As my client was the Sailing Club who had contrasting opinions between the old and the new sailor generation it was important to fulfil everyone’s needs, I decided to leave the existing building for fraternal gatherings suiting the older club members and other club member needs, however, the extension would be available to the wider public to attract new members. Nevertheless, a storytelling room would unite all generations, because stories facilitate the exchange of knowledge between the young and old generation.

The main design idea was all about light. I wanted the library to resemble a glowing box and this box would be a narrative of light as knowledge - building emits light as knowledge through books. The idea about the glowing box was the driving force of the whole project. Channel glass is the main material of the library and it offers an opportunity for the building to glow. This material emits the maximum amount of light from the building with a minimal environmental impact.

To better integrate a new building into the culturally and architecturally significant environment it is not always needed to imitate the surrounding buildings. By drawing a contrast between the old and new while maintaining the street’s colour harmony, it is possible to delicately integrate other materiality into the street.
Surrounding sandstone creates a cold feeling, whereas cork cladding that is used in this project creates the opposite effect. Although, the materials are completely different, it possible to find a resemblance in their weathering process, which makes the texture of these materials most fascinating.