The solid surface material, HI-MACS®, takes to the road: a mobile library, on behalf of the city of Heilbronn, Germany. The idea emerged as the city of Heilbronn was required to renovate their existing mobile library, which had been on the road since 1981 supporting primary schools, day-care centres and districts in the city.
Consequently, the Stuttgart-based design office LINIE ZWEII was commissioned to design a new mobile library that could accommodate the new requirements of the current media society for both outward appearance and interior design.
A key design element in the design of ROBI was lines. Lines as connectors between different network locations. ROBI’s lines cross from straight lines to a free network shape, horizontally and vertically. The result is lively elements - backlit to emphasise the functionally - they consistently created a dynamical shelving system as synonymous of fantasy and creating new realities.
For this project, the whole shelf-support system is made of HI-MACS® S28 Alpine White and S302 Opal in a continuous design. The shelves in the classic-styled entrance room are strictly geometrically parallel until they reach the so-called “adventure area” where they then disperse into freely-designed net-like shelves. Inside, reading mats and seat cubes in bright red colours entice readers to linger a while.
The requirement to install the elements while complying with the special conditions for road traffic proved to be an interesting challenge for Rosskopf & Partner AG - one of HI-MACS® distributors in Germany – who was in charge of the fabrication of the rolling library.
The individual shelves are also equipped with backlit front components.
Rolling Library „ROBI“
Design: LINIE ZWEII, Germany
Fabrication: Rosskopf & Partner AG, Germany
Photo: Annette Diehl
Material: HI-MACS® Alpine White, Opal.
