Earlier this year I spent a sunny Saturday on a coach tour of London’s libraries with the 20^th Century Society. It was exactly as nerdy as it sounds and I couldn’t have been happier! We saw eight libraries from the Grade II listed Kensington Central Library to the uber-modern Ideas Store in Poplar, but there was one that really stood out for me.

Swiss Cottage Library still quickens my heart just to think about it. Firstly, there’s the brutalist exterior with a lovely example of Béton Brut under the awning, together with finely finished Portland stone aggregate fins, the spaces between which align with the book stacks inside, and concrete aggregate columns reminiscent of the Barbican.

Inside, you will find a light, almost Scandinavian, Modernist interior; and what an interior! The neutral colour scheme of white, grey and pale wood is calm and sober, while punches of colour demarcate different areas of the library. The simple, quiet colour scheme, together with the Modernist forms and sense of space and light really took my breath away. If ever I need to escape to a calm and inspiring space to work, this is where I’ll be headed.

Images by Katie Treggiden