Rob Martin of Birmingham practice Kinetic designed this reception desk for a new facility at the city's 1970s public library. Practice director Bob Ghosh says he likes the desk, which cost £7500, because its dramatic cantilevered top helps define a new IT training suite. He also likes the two-tone backlit fibreglass frontage and dark timber surfacing. 'It is a simple design in terms of large planes of material, but it adds a degree of complexity because it doesn't follow the geometry of the rest of the space. Ghosh says, "Reception desks in public buildings can be institutionalised but here it creates an element of surprise. It's very different from the rest of the library".