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 12 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:
Better Public Libraries; Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; 2003 RIBA Journal; April 2012 CIBSE Journal; March 2013
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 and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, 17 miles (27 km) south-west of Birmingham and 15 miles (24 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.
Redditch is a town and borough in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, northwest of Alcester and northeast of Worcester. The borough had a population of 87,037 in 2021. In the 19th century, it became a centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry.
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen.
The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. Worcester is the only university based in the counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005.
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.
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.
Heart of Worcestershire College is an academic institution with campuses at Worcester, Malvern, Redditch and Bromsgrove. It was established in August 2014 on the merging of Worcester College of Technology and North East Worcestershire College.
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.
Hoare Lea is a UK-based, multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm, specialising in building services. The firm works with clients from the detailed design stage right through to delivery.
St John's is a suburb of Worcester, 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.
Worcestershire Record Office is located in Worcester, England, as a part of Worcestershire County Council. The Worcestershire Record Office comprises three branches, two of which are located in County Hall, the third at The Hive, Worcester.
The Bewdley School is a senior school and sixth form in Bewdley, serving north-west Worcestershire, England. Its campus is very close to the River Severn and lies on the border of the Wyre Forest national nature reserve. Bewdley is an educational research partner of the University of Worcester and University of Birmingham and is recognised for its focus on international and cultural education. In 2019, Bewdley hosted the Global Happiness Conference in partnership with the British Council. The Bewdley School has close ties with the nearby Bewdley Rowing Club established in 1877.
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.
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.