Sadly, the future of the Brighton History centre is in discussion at the moment as a result of the financial pressures Brighton and Hove Council are under – and as a result the staff may be made redundant and the centre be rehoused inside the Jubilee Library. I think we’d all agree that this kind of resource is invaluable – and to lose it would be to lose it forever – BUT all the artifacts and exhibits are not in danger and happily their future as a source of inspiration and fascination for successive generations is safe.

However, what does  seems to be in jeopardy is the wisdom, experience and local knowledge of the History Centre staff themselves. There has been a movement -quickly gathering pace – to acknowledge and safeguard the staff themselves, as its feared that with their redundancy a great deal of local knowledge and understanding gathered over many years working and collecting the exhibits would be lost too. The exhibits would be grandly displayed in the Jubilee Library but, sadly, there would be no room for the curators and museum workers themselves.

Such is the strength of feeling on this that a petition has been established on the Councils website strongly defending the current set up, and citing the city’s strong dependency on its history and cultural tradition as a major tourist attraction and financial draw, as reason not to inflict any potential damage to the revenue draw!

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The old building, as with the old museum, was more a lovely time warp experience of what it must have been like as, perhaps a Second World War child evacuee, stepping through the doors of a slightly forbidding, very dusty and very antiquated institution. Something like being a character in an Arnold Bennett novel – perhaps the Five Towns Municipal library. A nice experience. But somehow I never left with books under my arm.

The development of the whole area in the Jubilee district was a major shot in the arm for the city – but no where was more successful, I would suggest, as the Jubilee Library. I know nothing about architecture – but I understand the fact that if a building is designed perfectly to suit its purpose then the whole project can be elevated to a glorious success.  As an end user I can vouch that for me personally the building is a hit, but I was interested to find out more about the critical success of the building amongst the Archictural powers that be – and I was delighted by their confirmation of the building’s prowess! Further to that a Google search on the building provided me with these heart warming facts about the building and its design and purpose:

• Winner of the South East England RIBA Award 2005. Operational project with the best design – 2005 PFI Awards. Named BSJ/CIBSE Major Project of the Year. Commended as an ‘exemplary piece of urban development’ by CABE. And on the shortlist for both the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award, and the RIBA Stirling Prize.
• There is a conventional air-conditioning chiller unit in the library’s plant room to cap the internal temperature at 25°C in summertime, but even during the occasional heatwaves experienced this year, the majority of rooms stayed below this temperature without the chiller being called into operation. The overall cooling effect achieved by passive means is put at 4-5 degrees lower than the ambient external temperature and the thermal sink caused by this exposed concrete is a vital part of the building’s passive ventilation system.
• “The library incorporates 1200 x 260mm Termodeck precast hollowcore slabs in the ceilings of the rooms on either side of the central atrium”, says David Selvage from Fulcrum, the organisation responsible for the award winning air conditioning desing of the building. “In summer, air is pumped through the Termodeck to cool temperatures inside the building at night, which during the day are kept to a comfortable level partly by the effect of stored ‘coolth’ and partly by passive heat exchange with the exposed Termodeck planks and insitu mass in the building’s centre.”
• Heating bills during winter months are further reduced by the library’s magnificent south-facing glass facade, with louvres specially angled to allow in winter sun but deflect it in the summer.
• The library’s loos use rainwater to flush!

I still go into the libray a lot – more so than before. Inside it is light airy and attractive – something in the design just draws you in there and encourages you to linger and explore – adn yes, now I all to often stagger out under the weight of books and cd’s – a testament to the success of the architects and the design teams involved in creating this fantastic building!

Jubilee Library is only one of many buildings we are proud of in Brighton and Brighton Short Breaks welcomes visitors to explore our city and see what makes us Brightonians so proud of our home place!

If you’d like to arrange accommodation during the month  then check our our self catering Brighton properties and see what suits you best!

BrightonShortBreaks.com™ – 0845 500 9486
contact@brightonshortbreaks.com