London Libraries #4: Canada Water

Opened in 2011, the library at Canada Water SE16 has a similar boldness to the award-winning Peckham one. Can a library not just be a library anymore but a bold architectural statement? Anyway, the eye-catching building (though typically I walked out of the train station unable to find it until I realised it was actually directly above the station) is described by architect firm CZWG as an upside pyramid but to me seems more like the Sandcrawler from Star Wars or Noah’s Ark run aground. Housed in aluminium sheets, the inside is very chilled out with a ‘cultural cafe’, performance area, internet points and DVDs. You may even find some books upstairs. It’s part of the, ahem, regeneration of the area. The only other time I’ve been to Canada Water was about a decade ago to shop at the huge Decathlon store across the basin.