In 1920, when Louis Roth took over his father Leonhard’s business in Liestal near Basel, Switzerland, he took advantage of its convenient location near the train station to expand operations. He commissioned local master builder Meinrad Mangold to rebuild and expand his father’s distillery into a large multi-story warehouse. By 1925, the new structure was complete and proudly announced its new line of business: “Louis Roth & Cie, Kolonialwaren und Weine en gros”.
Commercial success followed and for the next decades, Louis Roth’s name was synonymous with quality imports and his large warehouse with expert wine aging. He also rented space for other businesses to store their wares, and kept his father’s distillery going.

Source: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz / Fotograf: Friedli, Werner / LBS_H1-021243 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

Source: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv/Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz / Fotograf: Swissair Photo AG / LBS_IN-051091-02 / CC BY-SA 4.0
By the 1980s, however, operations were at a standstill and the warehouse complex was purchased by the Canton of Basel-Landschaft in anticipation of the expansion of its nearby Gutsmatte administration centre. For the following decades, the Roth warehouses kept functioning as storage, although fine wines were replaced by the hodgepodge of things the cantonal administration needed room for: extra furniture, archives, archaeological artifacts, reserve artworks from the local museum, plaster dental casts for school demonstrations, and a few shelves for the cantonal library’s overflow items.


The latter traces its roots to 1838, barely 5 years after the foundation of the “half-canton” of Basel-Landschaft. The first 3000 documents landed in two rooms of the state administration building, a “Provisorium” that true to temporary library accommodations the world over lasted for over 80 years. In 1921, the cantonal library finally got a proper location in the ground floor of what is now the tribunal building, near the Liestal train station. The space was almost immediately found to be too small, and materials had to be stored in various locations around town. At one point, the library managed no less than 6 different offsite depots, including the former Roth warehouse.

This situation lasted another 80 years, until the cantonal administration finally determined in 1998 that a new library was required. By then, the Gutsmatte expansion project had reduced in scope and the authorities looked to make use of the cluster of storage barns it was left with. The area around the train station also desperately needed a face-lift. An architectural competition was launched in 1999 to transform the Roth warehouse into a new library. The requirements around the heritage structure were loose enough to allow the contestants a fair amount of liberty. Only the original timber structure and the characteristic hipped roof shape were to be maintained.


The winning proposal by Liechti Graf Zumsteg Architekten reinterpreted the pyramidal roof as the basis for a prominent glass lantern that by day brings light into the cavernous building and by night turns into a light beacon that instantly became the library’s signature. The strong shape of the roof in further enhanced by the boxy copper dormers jutting out on all four corners that double as narrow work cubicles. Traditional red tiles cover not only the roof, but also the two top floors in a shape dubbed Ziegelpullover (sweater of tiles) by an architectural critic.

The green-yellow tint of the lantern glass also prefigures the interior, where the original timber structure contrasts vividly with the lime green colour that covers all other surfaces. The well underneath the lantern serves for the circulation of patrons as well as light, with a glass-enclosed lift and flights of stairs. By the welcome desk, a cafe occupies a generous section of the ground floor, spilling over to a leafy patio in front of the library, accessed by a long covered ramp. The three levels rising up from the station level are all open shelves and work areas, culminating in a high attic underneath the lantern. The floors below are all closed stacks and administration, lit by windows opening to the north side of the library built against a cliff. A rooftop patio stands atop the administration wing, accessible during the warmer months.

Beneath the characteristic lantern, three large letters spell out the intriguing message “À LA”. The answer to this riddle by artist Stefan Banz is to be found in the tiled floor underneath the lantern, where the word “RECHERCHE” is written in reference to Marcel Proust’s novel. This space was initially a water feature, now dry following infiltration issues. Banz also decorated the timber beams with 50 wine names written in red stencil script, recalling the origin of the building as a wine depot.




Inaugurated in 2005, the cantonal library in Liestal is a popular location serving both as a reference and research library as well as the main lending library for the inhabitants of Basel-Landschaft. Its location by the train station and local bus terminal makes it within easy reach of patrons from all over the region.

The images shown here date from my visit in September 2022. Many thanks for the library staff for their kind welcome!
This post is part of a series on adaptive reuse in libraries. See the list of such projects I am maintaining or view other posts in this series.