Evolution and Transformation: Spaces, Services and Staircases

• Main Author: Cribb, Gulcin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2013
• Subjects: Singapore Management University (SMU); library design; library master planning; academic libraries; Library and Information Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/library_research/24; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=library_research
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Singapore Management University’s Li Ka Shing Library was designed in 2002 and built prior to 2005. It was officially opened in 2006 as part of a brand new university in the city with the two Singapore cultural icons on each side, the Singapore Art Museum and the Singapore National Museum overlooking the Campus Green with its heritage trees. The six storey building houses the library that occupies four storeys, with levels one and two housing various businesses, cafes and restaurants and other campus facilities. The growth in student numbers coupled with the changing needs and expectations of today’s student population and the outdated design features have prompted the library and the university management to begin a master planning exercise. The scope of the master planning process and the journey itself presented both expected and unexpected outcomes in terms of raising awareness of space use, realignment of library operations, user involvement, service re-design, multi-purpose spaces usable by a variety of user groups, commercial use of spaces, fund raising, and political and strategic alliances across the university.