David Adjaye’s Ideas Store on Whitechapel Road opened on Thursday. The Ideas Store is a new type of public library that aims to involve the whole community and offer opportunities for adult learning.

David Adjaye’s Ideas Store on Whitechapel Road opened on Thursday. The Ideas Store is a new type of public library that aims to involve the whole community and offer opportunities for adult learning.

The building is conceived as a simple stack of flexible floor plates wrapped in a unified facade that combines transparency with colour. A curtain wall consisting of a repeating pattern of coloured glass, clear glass and glass-faced aluminium panels encloses all four facades.

A five-storey atrium extends onto the pavement, with an escalator to draw people in and up. The top floor houses a cafe.