Elevation west 1:750 1. ”The Diamond” 2. Entrance 3. Service bridge 4. Loan bridge 5. Christians Brygge 6. ”Hansen” 7. ”Holm”
South elevation
West elevation
Det Kongelige Bibliotek Copenhagen, Denmark
Architect
Schmidt Hammer Lassen
Client
Dansk Kulturministeriet
Completion
1999
Floor area
21,000 m² (new); 7,000 m² (refurbished)
Number of volumes 200,000 Seating capacity
122 NATIONAL LIBRARIES
600 (hall), 300 (reading rooms)
More than a decade after its inauguration in 1999, the Danish Royal Library, universally known as the “Black Diamond”, remains a significant landmark in Copenhagen, both as a public library and a part of the city waterfront. The work of the Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the Black Diamond was the winning entry to an international competition in 1993. The competition, a product of several different governments, requested proposals for both the location and the design of an extension to the Royal Library on the Slotsholmen waterfront. There were long- standing issues of insufficient space and sto rage, already a problem in the 1906 Holm Library in the Danish Parliament and Archives complex.