opened on 24 September 2012 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, replacing the Queen Mother Library. It was designed by the Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen at the cost of £57 million. The building sits on a base of Scottish stone. The ground floor is double-height with seven floors above. The building is clad in zebra-like jagged stripes of white and clear glass. In the interior void spaces are located centrally. Contrasting with the geometric exterior, the central atrium formed by the void spaces has an organic form, shifting in location across the levels. It has won numerous awards for its architecture.
The university also has the Taylor Law Library which is located in the Taylor Building in Old Aberdeen, and the Medical Library on the Foresterhill Campus, which covers the Medicine and Medical Sciences disciplines. Christ's College also possesses its own Divinity library.
The university maintains several museums and galleries, open free to the public. The university's collections are internationally renowned and are recognised as of national significance by the Scottish Government. Originating in the eighteenth century, they now have over 300,000 items across a wide range of Human Culture, Medicine and Health, and Natural History. The Zoology Museum is officially classified as a Recognised Collection of national significance to Scotland and features displays from protozoa to the great whales, including taxidermy, skeletal material, study skins, fluid-preserved specimens and models.
== Student life ==
As of 2023/24 the university had 15,455 students, of which 5,460 were postgraduates. In 2009/10 students represented 120 countries with about 46% men, 54% women. Of all of undergraduates, 19% were mature students (i.e. aged 25 years or more). The university has more than 550 different undergraduate degree programmes and more than 120 postgraduate taught programmes.
=== Students' Association ===
The student body is represented by a students' association known as Aberdeen …
