The American University of Paris Library in the Student Life and Learning Commons

Abstract

The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private liberal arts institution with an urban campus in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. AUP had been searching for some time for an appropriate building to house its library and expanded student services. The AUP Library commenced in the 1960s in the basement of the American Church in Paris, located on the Quai d’Orsay. In 2017, the University purchased a generic 10-storey office building on the Quai d’Orsay, directly in front of another AUP building and a few metres from the American Church. The renovation and extension of the building focused on linking all student services including the library. The combined Student Life and Learning Commons incorporating the library opened in March 2019. The design of the new spaces entailed three main elements: restructuring the office building, including updates for fire codes and accessibility; constructing a link to the existing AUP building behind it; and an interior fit-out that would spatially express the identity of an institution evolving to meet the challenges of 21st century higher education. The story of the transformation of a 1950s office building into a dynamic, student-centred library and learning commons is the subject of this chapter.