라트비아 국립 도서관--'빛의 성Castle of Light'

라트비아  국립 도서관--'빛의 성Castle of Light'

The Latvian National Library has been called the Castle of Light due to its unique design (photo via delfi.lv)

One of Latvia's biggest construction projects- The National Library- has been completed, builders say.

The 162 million euro Latvian National Library also known as the Castle of Light due to its unique design, will be ready for use in Jan. 2014.

Latvian Culture Minister Dace Melbarde called the building an "intellectual , scientific, educational and cultural development center," and said the country should be proud of it.

Around 450 construction workers were involved in the construction of the building which took over five years to complete. 

An official opening ceremony, attended by high ranking officials, will held on Jan. 18. During the ceremony, the libraries first batch of books will be introduced to the building.

In 2014, the library will play host to a series of events celebrating Riga as the European capital of culture.

Here's some more data on the construction of the library, via delfi.lv

• Site area: 17,431 m2, with building area of ​​12,210 m2
• Total area: 40,455 m2
• Building length, width, height: 170 m, 44 m, 68.3 m
• Construction of the building of the original cost (excluding VAT): 114.6 million
• Building support 8.9 miles pile driven into the ground 501 pile
• Total, 44,500 m3 of concrete, 5,560 tons of reinforcing, 300 tons of steel On the roof cast into 600 tons of stainless steel
• The total cable length: 540 km
• Total pipe length: 150 km
• Front area: 15 300 m2
• Construction of the building requires approximately 4.2 million man-hours
• Stone walls displacement: 2 190 m3
• Gypsum board wall and ceiling area: 12,655 m2
• Glass area: 13,910 m2
• The raised floor area: 3,707 m2
• The maximum construction time while the number of employed workers - 450

Watch this amazing time lapse video of the construction of the library.

See more photos of the library here