The Sir Duncan Rice Library is the main academic library for the University of Aberdeen. It is named after Duncan Rice, a previous principal of the university. Its 7 storeys provide over 1200 study spaces for students. The building is a distinctive sight in Aberdeen and can be seen prominently from the entire campus and much of the city. Because of its cubic shape and its name, it is sometimes informally called the Rice Cube. The building, designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen in 2011, was conceived to mark the ice and light of the north.
It houses several of the University's historic collections, including more than a quarter of a million ancient and priceless books and manuscripts that have been collected over five centuries since the University's foundation. It also has a public gallery on the Ground Floor for exhibitions and displays, which everyone is free to visit.
I also encourage everyone to come inside and enjoy its unique interior design. Contrasting with the geometric exterior, the central atrium formed by void spaces has an organic form, shifting in location across the levels.