De Boekenberg - Spijkenisse

De Boekenberg, Spijkenisse's central library, was designed by architect Winy Maas of MVRDV in Rotterdam. In his ideal world, the Boekenberg was an open-air library, a generous mountain of books accessible at all times and to everyone. But a mountain, without a canopy proved impossible in the Dutch climate. So he designed a glass shed around the huge "pile of books". Inspired by Spijkenisse's agricultural past, it became a barn with a characteristic pointed roof, but made of glass.

From the outside, you can see the books. Almost 500 metres of bookcases line a mountain of meeting rooms and offices. You can take a real book mountain walk to the top. From there, by the way, you have a great view over the Market Square and the old part of Spijkenisse.

The building has 1006 windows, 116 FSC pine rafters, 480 metres of bookshelves and about 70,000 books. The building won several national awards and was nominated for several international prizes. The architect calls the building an advertisement for reading, and a tomb for the book.