Birmingham’s new landmark library has had the first part of its striking façade lifted into place.
By the time the £188 million building opens in 2013 a delicate metal filigree of rings will be wrapped around its outer shell.
They will be fixed to the library’s glazed exterior which faces out onto the city centre’s Centenary Square.
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The design was dreamt up to echo the gasometers, tunnels, canals and viaducts which fuelled the city’s industrial growth. It features a series of interweaving circles of two different sizes.
The overlapping metal rings will extend across the building from the first to the eighth floor.
Each section is made of 5.4m diameter black rings with silver circles of 1.8m diameter attached.
One by one they will be hoisted onto the building by crane and attached to a bespoke steel bracket.
Architect Francine Houben, of Dutch firm Mecanoo, described it as a “people’s palace”.
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Library bosses said the ten-storey site will be “world-class” and provide a showcase for the city’s internationally important collections of archives, photography and rare books.
They added the new facilities will include state-of-the-art gallery space which will open up public access to the collections for the first time.
It will also be home to a British Film Institute Mediatheque, providing free access to the National Film Archive.
Other facilities will include a new studio theatre, an outdoor ampitheatre and other informal performance spaces, a recording studio and dedicated spaces for children.
A library spokeswoman said: “By harnessing new technology, everyone from Birmingham to Beijing, Bangalore and beyond will be able to access the Library of Birmingham’s world-class resources.
“More than three million visitors are expected each year, and millions more online.
“As a centre of excellence for literacy, research, study, skills development, entrepreneurship, creative expression, health information and much more, the Library of Birmingham will change people’s lives.”