New | The art of constructing the perfect home library
The trick is to arrange shelving in a way that does not dominate the space, but leaves favourite books visible and accessible
Best-selling English novelist Joanna Trollope describes her e-book reader as "brilliant" - for travelling.
Overall, though, she sums up why she believes iPads and Kindles will never replace the printed page: "You can't love a library of e-books."
Books are cumbersome to cart around when moving house, and they stand front and centre of any clutter cull. But if you are a "book person", you can never completely let go. The trick is to arrange one's home library in a way that won't overwhelm the space, but leaves precious reads visible and accessible.
Australian architect Ben Milbourne came up with a "James Bond-inspired" solution for the inner-city home of eco-designer Leyla Acaroglu of Eco Innovators - a sustainably designed, full-wall rotating library.
"The split-level, open plan warehouse conversion in Melbourne's CBD needed a flexible solution to divide the open space into two rooms (living room and bedroom), while retaining the option of keeping the larger combined space when needed," explained Milbourne, founder of Bild Architecture.
In place of a conventional dividing wall, he designed six sections of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, each rotating lazy-Susan style on an industrial-scale mechanism, which combine to form a 4.6 metre high by 3.8m wide rotating library wall. The system allows books to be stored and accessed from both sides, and also maximises air-flow and light, which Milbourne says is a "classic problem with studio apartments".
A collaboration with furniture designer David Waterworth of Against the Grain, who specialises in reclaimed and recycled materials, saw the design materialise in reclaimed plywood from construction site hoardings, complete with remnant posters and graffiti, which adds to the character.
