The new Clare County Library, designed by Keith Williams Architects in Ennis, County Clare was granted planning consent in February 2018.
The new 2,300m2 project for client Clare County Council, has been conceived as a new cultural hub for the town and the region. It will abut the town’s existing Glór Theatre (2001) adding the new Clare County Library and a small contemporary Art Gallery. When complete the library, theatre and art gallery will be interlinked and the new main entrance will be formed from a full height colonnaded portico to draw the eye to toward this new portal to the literary, visual and performing arts contained within.
The form of the new building is in part defined by a 10m high sinuous pre-cast masonry wall which will provide the outer skin to the library and art gallery creating a new civic frontage for this new cultural building complex. Rooflights and sidelight glazed slots bring daylight into the heart of the plan, whilst “incident windows” connect the interior with the exterior and offer views to key points within Ennis. The administrative offices for the county library will sit above the double height main library space in a simple, rectangular form.
The exterior facades will be largely formed from pale pre-cast masonry sit upon a profiled base (ground level) storey of vertical masonry ribs to create strong rhythm on the façade. Contrasting glazed panels with metallic bronze powder coated aluminium frames give accent, contrast and highlight.
Construction restarted on 28 April 2022 with completion and opening due in 2024.
