Kvam Library

The reading room comes first.

We drew the reading room before the rest of the library: 212 square metres, its long wall open to the Hardangerfjord and its back to the stacks. Everything else is arranged to leave that wall alone. The entrance is straight off the quay, a few steps from the water.

The frame is glulam, delivered from the sawmill in long lengths and stood in six weeks. At the moment it is posts, beams and a good deal of grey membrane. Soon it will have walls, a roof and books. The Vestland Timber Prize shortlist arrived before the glazing did.