Marcus Garvey Library

If there’s one thing we’ve learned makes better buildings, it’s empathy. Architecture never happens in isolation—and simply by being interested and engaged, we’ve found it’s possible to open up the conversations that connect a scheme to its clients and community.

We believe that the more constraints there are, the better the architecture. If there aren’t any constraints, we create them. Challenging sites, existing buildings and complex briefs almost always present incredible opportunities for great design.

To limit our environmental impact, we start with what is already there. By manipulating the form and fabric of a building—whether new or existing—we can work with the existing conditions of topography, light and orientation, and harness the natural energy sources offered by air, ground and water.

If a site’s constraints guide the bigger design decisions, then it’s empathy that informs the smaller, social details. These details frame the human narratives that aren’t included in the brief, anticipating specific moments in the users’ lives.

Good architecture is as much about what happens on the building site as it is about what’s on the drawing board. By working alongside contractors as well as clients we can ring-fence the ideas and details that matter, championing quality and sustainability throughout construction.

Marcus Garvey Library

Work Studio Activity News Contact

Work

Marcus Garvey Library
Haringey, London

Client

London Borough of Haringey

Marcus Garvey Library is the main library serving the Tottenham area in the London Borough of Haringey. The library is co-located in the same building as Tottenham Green Pools & Fitness. The library is located over two floors in the west side of the building as highlighted in red adjacent. The library was refurbished in 2015 in coordination with the leisure centre.

The library is the first touch point for many cultures in the surrounding area and there is an ambition to make the library a more distinct flagship space, better serving its community.

Haringey Council appointed CLTH to produce a feasibility study for alterations to the library.
The aim of the feasibility study is that the alterations recapture the cultural identity of the library and underline its significance within the local community.

Work

Client

Related works

Central Library

Hornsey Library

Carlisle Library

Highgate Library

Muswell Hill Library