Heritage Days - The Solvay library

Opened in 1902, the Solvay Library was designed by the architects Constant Bosmans and Henri Vandeveld. Originally, the building housed a sociology institute intended to form part of that section of Léopold Park which the doctor Paul Héger and the industrialist Ernest Solvay had been seeking to transform into a science city for some ten years already. In 1967, the Institute was relocated to the edge of the Solbosch university campus, and the University Press took over the premises, occupying them until 1981. Left without a designated use, it was purchased by the Region and meticulously restored. The Library reopened its doors on 27 May 1994 and, under the management of the company Edificio, serves as a venue for numerous events. The entrance hall, with its mosaic floor, leads into a vast reading room in an eclectic style, itself surrounded by individual study rooms with upholstered doors. As was often the case at that time, nature was a major source of inspiration for the interior designers, whether in the leafy garlands or the predominantly red wall frescoes attributed to Adolphe Crespin, the abundant plant motifs in the numerous stained-glass windows, or the celadon-green wrought-iron rods that punctuate the balustrade, alternating with the wooden balusters. (Listed – 8 August 1988)