The Hive | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Library |
Architectural style | |
Address | Sawmill Walk, The Butts |
Town or city | Worcester |
Country | England |
Opened | 2 July 2012 |
Cost | £29.7 million |
Client | |
Technical details | |
Floor area | 12,371m2 |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios |
Structural engineer | |
Services engineer | Max Fordham |
Other designers | Copper Cladding – Norman and Underwood Ltd |
Main contractor | Galliford Try |
Website | |
www |
The Hive, is a large golden-coloured building in Worcester, England, which houses the fully integrated Worcestershire County Council, City of Worcester public library, the University of Worcester's academic library, Worcestershire Record Office, the county Archive and Worcestershire Archaeology Service.
The Hive was procured under a private finance initiative programme and was built by Galliford Try at a cost of £60 million. [1] The Hive's joint commissioning clients were the University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council. Funding was also provided by the National Lottery and the British government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Education. It was opened to the public on 2 July 2012 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 11 July 2012. [2]
The library houses over a quarter of a million books. [3] According to the Annual Public Library Statistics from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), The Hive issued 903,859 books during the financial year 2013/14 and achieved 978,199 visits. This placed it in first position in the West Midlands. [4]
Awards include:
Worcestershire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands county to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Herefordshire to the west. The city of Worcester is the largest settlement and the county town.
Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, 20 miles (32 km) south-west of Birmingham and 12 miles (19 km) north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2021 census, it had a population of 57,400. The town is twinned with Husum, Germany.
Worcester is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is 30 mi (48 km) south-west of Birmingham, 27 mi (43 km) north of Gloucester and 23 mi (37 km) north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 census.
The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit affords a panorama of the Severn Valley, the hills of Herefordshire and the Welsh mountains, parts of thirteen counties, the Bristol Channel, and the cathedrals of Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford.
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, also known as Dudley Council, is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. The town of Dudley had been a borough since the thirteenth century, being reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016.
Tenbury Wells is a market town and civil parish in the northwestern extremity of the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Its northern border adjoins Shropshire, and at the 2021 census joint with Burford it had a population of 5,224.
The Chase School is a secondary school in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. The school opened as a Secondary Modern in 1953 under headteacher Mr Garth. It was officially opened by Lord Cobham on 26 March 1955. The Chase became a comprehensive with the abolition of selective education in Worcestershire in 1974 and became an academy on 1 November 2011. Teaching students from Year 7 to Year 13, The Chase has around 1,300 students, making it one of the larger schools in Worcestershire, with just under 300 students in the sixth form.
The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005.
Hartlebury Castle, a Grade I listed building, near Hartlebury in Worcestershire, central England, was built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia. It lies near Stourport-on-Severn in an area with several large manors and country houses, including Witley Court, Astley Hall, Pool House, Areley Hall and Hartlebury and Abberley Hall. Later, it became the bishop's principal residence.
Associated Architects is a leading AJ100 architectural firm with offices in Birmingham and Leeds, England. Founded in 1968, the practice has a broad portfolio of work including arts, commercial offices, residential, masterplanning and leisure and is particularly known for its work in education. It has received many national awards including over 30 RIBA Awards, together with the RIBA Sustainability Award. For its commercial work it has been awarded nine BCO Awards. The practice designed the George Davies Centre, at the University of Leicester, currently the largest (non-domestic) building in the UK to be Passivhaus accredited. It is also responsible for the design and delivery of Bartholomew Barn, the UK's first "multi-comfort" building, a benchmark pioneered by Saint Gobain. The building has set a new bar for sustainable architecture.
Bromsgrove railway station serves the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, England. It is located at the foot of the two-mile Lickey Incline which ascends at a gradient of 1-in-37.7 towards Barnt Green on the line between Birmingham and Worcester. Bromsgrove is managed by West Midlands Railway. The current station opened on 12 July 2016, replacing an older station located slightly to the north.
Malvern Link railway station serves Malvern Link in Worcestershire, England. It is one of two stations serving the town of Malvern, the other being Great Malvern station.
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers is an international professional engineering association based in London, England that represents building services engineers. It is a full member of the Construction Industry Council, and is consulted by government on matters relating to construction, engineering and sustainability. It is also licensed by the Engineering Council to assess candidates for inclusion on its Register of Professional Engineers.
St John's is a western suburb of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, lying west of the city centre and the River Severn. St. John's is referred to locally as the "Village in the City", which is partly due to being an independent township, before joining the city in 1837. There is still a sense of identity within the community.
Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway is a railway station located on the northern outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. It is on the North Warwickshire Line, adjacent to the A46.
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is a British architectural design firm, established in 1978, with offices in Bath, London, Manchester and Belfast. The firm is known for its pioneering work in sustainable design and social design agenda.
Page\Park Architects is a Scottish architectural company established in 1981, by David Page and Brian Park.
Worcestershire Parkway is a split-level railway station where the Cotswold and Cross Country lines cross near Norton, Worcester, England. It opened on 23 February 2020.
Nicholas Hare Architects is a UK architectural practice, with a portfolio of award-winning projects. These include schools, higher education, refurbishment, commercial projects, and buildings for the arts. Founded by Nicholas Hare in 1977, the practice is now a limited liability partnership with over 50 employees. The office is based in an old book-binding factory in Barnsbury Square in Islington. Nicholas Hare Architects LLP is a member of the UK Green Building Council and achieves BREEAM Excellent rating for several of its completed buildings.
Worcester's early importance is partly due to its position on trade routes, but also because it was a centre of Church learning and wealth, due to the very large possessions of the See and Priory accumulated in the Anglo-Saxon period. After the reformation, Worcester continued as a centre of learning, with two early grammar schools with strong links to Oxford University.
Better Public Libraries; Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; 2003 RIBA Journal; April 2012 CIBSE Journal; March 2013