Bournemouth Millennium Library opened to the public last month.
Located in the town centre, the £10.5 million project comprises 8200 m2 of library and retail space on four floors. A 3600 m2 library on the first and second floors has been provided under a PFI agreement for Bournemouth Borough Council. The lower and upper ground floors have been developed as speculative retail space.

Consulting engineers on the project were Upton McGougan, who incorporated a number of sustainable design methods. The engineering on the building places great emphasis on the interaction between the structures and the building services. In places, the structure is used as a heat sink linked to a mixed mode approach to the service provision, making full use of daylight, low energy consumption materials and thermal chimneys.