Cork City Libraries and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) announce the winners of ‘The Ideal City Library’ competition: 3 architectural teams from the Netherlands, Canada and Australia have won joint first prize.

What kind of building can a city library be in the 21st century? Public libraries have evolved almost beyond recognition in recent years, and to help us imagine what a major city library should look like, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and Cork City Libraries invited young architects and architectural students to design an ideal central library for a city of Cork’s size.

The response from architects has been fantastic. More than 400 expressed an interest in the competition, and 230 complete entries were received from architects all over the world. They let their imaginations run free.

Joint Winners: Eugene Cheah & colleagues from Victoria, Australia

Johan Voordouw & colleagues from Manitoba, Canada

Ralf Pasel & Frederik Künzel from Rotterdam

The Judges awarded equal first prize to 3 entrants. Johan Voordouw & colleagues from Manitoba, Canada, Ralf Pasel & Frederik Künzel from Rotterdam, and Eugene Cheah & colleagues from Victoria, Australia share the prize fund of €10,000. A further 13 entries were short-listed and you can view the shortlist here.

The Panel of Judges consisted of Jack Healy, Cork City Architect, Gary Mongey of Box Architects, Norma McDermott, Director of An Chomhairle Leabharlanna, and Joe Kennelly, Director of Services, Cork City Council. John Graby, Director of Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) stewarded the competition and the assessment process.

The prize money of €10,000 was provided by Mr. Joseph Carey MD of Remax Cork & County, whose generosity was praised by Cork City Librarian Liam Ronayne.