A STRIKING rotunda is catching the eye today after being unveiled at a community building in Ipswich.

A STRIKING rotunda is catching the eye today after being unveiled at a community building in Ipswich.

The mirror green cladding on the central structure of the new library in Gainsborough has given a first glimpse of what the finished building will look like when it is completed in the summer.

Arthur Taber remembers the old library being built when he lived nearby as a young boy and travelled from his current home in Bramford for the unveiling.

The 81-year-old said: “It is a big improvement on the other library. It is very impressive but will be even better when the scaffolding comes down.”

The last of the protective sheets covering the rotunda were pulled off yesterday by Duncan Bright, project architect for Pick Everard, and Nick Fayers, managing director from Barnes Construction.

The cladding, which has also been used on the Welsh Millennium Centre in Cardiff and the London Metropolitan University, is unusual because it has been installed on a circular structure.

It is also the first time the colour mirror green has been used on a building in Ipswich.

The �1.4million building has been funded by the Big Lottery as part of its Communities Libraries Programme, which helps bring public libraries up to a modern standard.

When completed, the 455 square metre facility will not only house a well-equipped library but also a large community room, a social enterprise caf� similar to that recently opened in Felixstowe Library and a digital sound recording studio.

The library has integrated a number of sustainable elements into the build such as an eco-friendly computer controlled-cooling and ventilation system.

A temporary library has been set up next door while building work is completed.

Are you looking forward to the opening of the new library? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk