Neon discovery: Library pavilion entices with colour

Created by Morag Myerscough and Luke Morgan, the structure is the headquarters for a series of events, workshops and activities celebrating the opening of Europe’s largest public library.

The exterior was hand-painted by Myerscough, while bright signs sporting enticing words such as ‘Mystery’ and ‘Magic’ stick out from the roof, inviting visitors to enter the space. Within, the timber-wood space is kept minimal so that it can change with each different programme on offer.

‘We wanted to greet visitors with a smile,’ says Myerscough. ‘It encourages conversation and lifts the spirits.’ The pavilion, she says, functions as ‘something of a ‘curiosity box’ that undergoes transformation. [It can become] a totally new space depending on what that week’s resident has planned’.

The pavilion’s placement within the library is an example of Symbiotic Architecture, and shows how the aesthetic of a space within a space is moving beyond retail.