Plans revealed for the new Library of Birmingham

Detailed plans for the new Library of Birmingham have been revealed, showing a striking building wrapped in a pattern of metal rings, with roof gardens and an amphitheatre on Centenary Square.

The designs, by the Dutch architects Mecanoo, were unveiled at a launch event on 2 April.

A landmark for Centenary Square

The library will be built on what is currently a public car park on Centenary Square, between the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Baskerville House. It will share some facilities with the Rep, which is also being refurbished.

The design features a facade of interlocking metal rings, reflecting the city's history of metalworking and jewellery making, terraces with gardens and views over the city, and a sunken amphitheatre in the square outside.

How the design was chosen

An international design competition, run by the Royal Institute of British Architects, attracted more than 100 architects. A shortlist of seven, including Foster and Partners and OMA, was announced in March last year, and Mecanoo, working with the engineers Buro Happold, were chosen as the winners in August.

Warm reviews

The plans have won praise from writers. The Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, said they were "properly ambitious to preserve the best traditional practice, while also opening the building to new ideas about what a library should be - the heart of the community".

The author Philip Pullman said the library "sounds as if it will be lovely and should attract even more users than the present one with its impressive visitor total of 5,000 a day".

A long search for a site

The council has looked at moving the library for many years. An earlier plan for a library in Eastside, designed by Richard Rogers, was shelved for financial reasons. The council then considered splitting the library between Centenary Square and Millennium Point, before deciding in 2006 to build a single library on Centenary Square.

The old library

The new building will replace the Central Library, designed by John Madin and opened in 1974. Its inverted ziggurat shape is one of the most recognisable buildings in the city, and campaigners have argued it should be saved. The council says it is no longer fit for purpose and plans to demolish it once the new library is open.

What next

A planning application will now be prepared, with building work expected to start next year and the library due to open in 2013. The council says the new library will be one of the largest public libraries in Europe, and a flagship for the regeneration of the city centre.