Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

OGRE CENTRAL LIBRARY AND MARRIAGE REGISTRY

Pbr Architects Bureau

PHOTOGRAPHS
Sandis Radziņš, Madara Gritāne

BMS
Motus Ltd.

YEAR
2021

CATEGORY
Library, Community, Community Center

LOCATION
Ogre, Latvia

LEAD ARCHITECT
Valdis Onkelis

AREA
2199 m²

MEP & HVAC ENGINEER
Efiko Ltd.

DESIGN OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS
Karlis Ltd.

WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE
E.e.p Solutions Ltd.

DESIGNING CIVIL ENGINEER
Janis Skists

LEAD CIVIL ENGINEER
Maris Berzins

DESIGNING ARCHITECT & INTERIOR DESIGN
Rudis Rubenis

PASSIVE HOUSE ENERGY CALCULATIONS
Arau Ltd.

PRINCIPAL USE
Library, Marriage Registry, Conference Center

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Rere Buve Ltd.

MANUFACTURERS
Atlas Concorde, Hasslacher Norica Timber, Rheinzink, Adler, Cross Timber Systems, Steico, Tarkett, Vorwerk, Archicad, Baltic Floc, Door Solutions, Elpo, Gigacer, Latdoors, Tonalite, I2

The raw beauty of forest and river combined with the warmth and comfort of small historic wooden summer houses with pitched roofs are the main characteristics of resort town Ogre, that inspired the new community library.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Sandis Radziņš
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

The new building was carefully placed on the hilly site to preserve as much natural forest cover as possible.

The idea of the new building staying behind the trees and looking through them resembles the bit shy and introverted nature of Latvians.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Sandis Radziņš

The building itself is designed to feel not as much like an institution, but more like an open public place for the community and visitors to meet, educate and relax.

The new center houses library with different reading and working rooms, a vast kid’s library, a separate youth library, a spacious conference hall with a terrace and kids’ room, a cozy summer café building for library outdoor activities, and even a Civil Registry Office with marriage ceremony hall. Pitched roof structures help to spatially define these separate functions.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Sandis Radziņš
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

To better understand the needs of this complex project, many different user groups were engaged in the brainstorming and planning process early on. Designers went to nearby schools, youth organizations, and local cultural centers and even organized a survey in the local Facebook group for mothers.

Many different ideas like a special baby playing area with adjacent care and feeding room and a traverse rock-climbing wall in the kids' games room were introduced.

On the second story from the central atrium starts a ceremonial white hallway.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

At the end of it, there is an ascetic ceremony hall with a large undivided glass wall facing the forest to the north.

Nature has always played a central role in traditional Latvian culture and so it does in this hall.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

A special element in the building is the second-story windows. They are designed as large plywood sitting boxes with insertable upholstery, dimmable light, and a semi-transparent curtain. Visitors can close the curtains and create their own comfortable reading cabin with a view of the forest.

It is a wooden building with a metal frame roof structure. Wood allowed to blend in the local context and added emotional and environmental value.

Load-bearing walls are made of CLT panels but columns, beams, and floor panels are GLT to ensure longer spans.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

The facade is clad with light larch on the first floor and with dark titan zinc on the second story and roof, as this proportion of material, the division is traditional for local buildings.

Bleached wooden constructions can be seen exposed in the interior.

The second story has suspended pine wood ceiling panels with space behind for communications.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

Soft pastel color mosaic carpets, upholstered windowsills, and bookshelves invite visitors to feel at home.

For heating and cooling the building, there are water-air heat pumps with the external contour in the city's central sewage system reservoir.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

The electricity for the heat pumps is produced with a solar panel field in the courtyard above car parking.

Biologically active rainwater from the roof is collected and used for watering the green walls with an air biofilter function in the atrium.

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
© Madara Gritāne

There is a dashboard with live data and explanatory animations about the innovative building systems installed in the atrium.


Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Section B


Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Site Plan
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Ground Floor Plan


Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Upper Floor Plan
Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Axonometry


Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Roof Eaves Detail

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Window Detail

Ogre Central Library and Marriage Registry
Skylight Detail