Library

Designed under W.C. Brown, City Architect, as part of the proposed post-war civic core of Bradford, the library was to replace the first Bradford Central Library (1878). Brown was assisted by L.A.J. Heywood and K.Warman. Finished in Portland stone (as was the City Planner’s odd decree of the time) and Westmorland slate, the nine storey tower and podium block was specified to contain reading rooms, a junior library, the storage and display of books by subject, on-site accommodation for the caretaker, lecture theatre and exhibition space. Its development was informed by research carried out by the City Architect’s Department and the City Librarian. In section, the main library floors were double height, each with an attendant mezzanine level. They were organised in roughly the same manner – an open shelving area from wall to wall across the short axis and a book store at one end with access to a goods lift; the other end, the main staircase, passenger lifts, enquiry desks and study bays. Generally constructed of in-situ columns with reinforced precast floors, save for the steel trussed roof of the auditorium. The outside of the auditorium facing Manchester Road used its stone cladding in a relief pattern on its raking gable wall. On the discovery of asbestos in 2012, the building was closed and the library relocated.