Bibliothéque Centrale de l’UCAD and archivist department

The old university library was completed shortly after Independence and located at the terminus of a long ceremonial avenue that cuts through the campus. By the late 1990s further space was required for study and new book acquisitions, but rather than build an extension or separate block, the solution was to partially wrap the old library with new segments and entrance portico to create additional room and atriums. The older structure is still clearly visible (see the rectilinear mosaic elements) but these forms are now joined by more playful additions whilst observing the strict symmetry. The inverted scoop of the entrance portico references Corbusier’s Assembly at Chandigarh (and is similar to Wilford’s Lowry Centre in Salford), but here it runs perpendicular to the main building with a zig-zag motif on the exposed gable. The addition was designed by Tétreault Parent Languedoc and Oscar Afrique in 2001.

The flanks of the avenue include the University Conference centre buildings and the Archivist Department. On top of ornate red brick podiums, where the bricks are laid in soldier bond and proud of the building line, sit curved forms clad in sea shells that add subtle texture and shadow. The buildings were designed by Henri Chomette and Roland Depret in 1976.