A library that can rearrange the room.
The tracks are still in the floor. In Tilburg’s former locomotive hall, they now move tables into place for reading, gathering or a performance.
NL NetherlandsIn practice. The completed LocHal conversion houses Tilburg’s public library and cultural organisations in a former railway workshop.
What to keep in view
The architectural programme describes the completed project; individual labs, activities and bookings should be checked with the library.
Furniture that follows the tracks
Three large wheeled tables use the old rails. Mecanoo describes how they can extend the café bar, combine into a stage or move outside for an event. An industrial remnant becomes a working part of the public interior.
The hall accommodates a library, cultural organisations and workspaces. Tables and lighting wrap existing columns, making places to read without hiding the structure’s age. The old paint remains visible.
A large room that can change its mind
Full-height textile partitions by Inside Outside and the TextielMuseum divide the volume into different activity areas. They soften the hall while allowing it to stay recognisably one large space.
The library also contains labs for activities including digital making, games and language. The building offers different degrees of participation: a seat and a book, a place to work, or an organised session. Check the programme for a particular lab rather than assuming every activity is available whenever the doors are open.
Explore reading, making, working and events through LocHal’s own programme. Individual activities and workspaces may have separate booking arrangements.
See what you can do at LocHalRead next.
The steelworks becomes a place to think.
Another industrial shell becomes a library. Compare public and university settings, and the spaces they offer for study.
Borrow a little possibility.
From movable tables in Tilburg to shared facilities in Helsinki: follow the library beyond its bookshelves.