National Library's new reading rooms win 2024 Accessibility Leader Award
On Wednesday, June 5, a gala honouring the winners of the 2024 Accessibility Leader Awards was held at the Presidential Palace. The winner in the "Large Public Facility" category was the new reading rooms at the National Library.
The Accessibility Leader Awards recognise urban and architectural solutions that contribute to the creation of more accessible spaces for all user groups, including people with disabilities. The Awards promote the idea of "universal design", contributing to a more inclusive society where everyone can freely use the proposed solutions, whatever their individual needs. The Awards were founded in 2016 under the honorary patronage of Polish President Andrzej Duda.
President Duda, presenting the Awards, said that "the idea behind the Accessibility Leader Awards is that they implement the provisions in the Polish Constitution on the equal treatment of all our citizens. The winning spaces and buildings are positive examples of what accessibility should look like. They not only make our country more modern, they also build a sense of community and solidarity within society.
Dr Tomasz Makowski, Director General of the National Library, accepted the Award for the Library: The National Library expresses the ambitions of the State. And our Library and its new reading rooms clearly reveal the Polish State's aspirations for society and how it treats people with different disabilities. As we grow older, each of us becomes less able. So when we think about these spaces, although we are slightly more able-bodied at the moment, we should remember that that will soon change [...]. The National Library's reading rooms are open for everyone, not just as a place in which to read but also as a place simply to pass the time.
The new reading rooms have also won awards in a number of other architectural competitions:
Property Design Award dla nowych czytelń BN
Trzy nagrody dla nowych czytelń BN w Konkursie Architektonicznym Prezydenta m.st. Warszawy
Teams behind the modernisation project at the National Library:
KONIOR STUDIO and SOKKA
KONIOR STUDIO design team: Tomasz Konior, Dominik Koroś, Andrzej Witkowski, Marcin Piotrowski, Wojciech Przywecki, Michał Lipiec, Angelika Drozd, Mikołaj Zdanowski, Piotr Straszak.
SOKKA design team: Katarzyna Sokołowska, Wojciech Sokołowski, Ewelina Bidzińska, Michał Latko, Marcin Maciejewski.
Construction and installation: MES, Arkadiusz Jakubowski, PKBI, WhiteMoose, Eltrim Projects.
