Library Buildings around the World

spaces. Library, teaching and workplace typologies are developed into a series of identifiable and interrelated forms with an
emphasis on layered transparency, equity of access, openness, sustainability and collaboration. Emphasis is placed on informal
teaching and collaboration spaces such as the ‘social-hub’ bridges that form an urban window framing the new campus entry. Here
teachers and students are suspended in a transparent layer between city and campus, over new public spaces and a more open and
equitable campus. Sustainability is infused throughout from siting and urban initiatives which reclaim public space from carparking,
reconnect the campus to Victoria Park and harvest and reuse rainwater, through building wide energy efficient
infrastructures and services, passive thermal control, natural light and ventilation systems and environmentally sustainable material
selection. (http://www.worldarchtecture.news)
The Faculty of Law, Library and Teaching Complex was twice honoured at last night’s Australian Timber Design Awards. The
project won the national Interior Fitout and Best Use of Decorative Wood Veneers categories.The project’s distinctive use of timber
products made it a prime contender for the awards. Its most prominent feature is the occupant-controlled timber louvres on the east
and west façades. These louvres are part of a triple-layered system that provides thermal control through a combination of high
performance glass, automated stack effect natural ventilation and automated sun-shading louvers. The system allows individual
offices to choose passively tempered natural ventilation, mixed mode air conditioning, degree of sun penetration, views and natural
light and provides acoustic screening. Throughout the complex’s interiors are other innovative uses of timber veneers. Key areas
include the 300-seat lecture theatre, which features folded timber walls, and the Law Library, where the curved profile timber
ceiling adds a warm dynamic to the subterranean volume. All timber products were sustainably sourced and certified. (FJMT)
Surry Hills Library and Community Centre, Surrey Hills, NSW – Australia 2009
The Centre has been designed to achieve excellence in sustainable design and set new high standards in environmental performance for
multi-purpose public buildings. [It] will be a starting point for the development of a green rating system for public buildings… [and] an
innovative example of design and sustainable design possibilities. — Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP
This innovative new building provides specific services tailored to community needs and includes an integrated local library,
community centre and child care centre. Establishing a new Australian standard of excellence for environmentally sustainable
design in civic buildings, the building includes: use of planting together with a thermal labyrinth for passive filtering and tempering
of air; incorporation of extensive natural light; solar-tracking timber louvre systems; automated fabric shading; mixed mode
ventilation; extensive photovoltaic array; geothermal cooling bores; green roof; rainwater collection and recycling; and sustainable
material selection. The project has been rapidly embraced by the community and well received by industry being awarded UDIA
Excellence in Sustainable Design award and the Australian Timber Design Awards Public Building high commendation. (FJMT)
This project is prominently located in the heart of Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb of Sydney whose community is characterised by
a diversity of age, income and cultural backgrounds. The architectural context is also diverse: residential apartments, terrace
housing, shops and commercial/industrial premises vary in scale though their architectural style is predominantly Victorian. The site
is very constrained, measuring just 25 by 28 metres and bound on three edges by roads: Crown Street, the main street of Surry Hills,
to the east and two residential streets to the south and west. The project’s brief was developed in close consultation with the very
active local community. The key approach that emerged from these discussions was that the community wanted a facility that
everyone could share. Rather than only a library or a community centre or childcare centre, it became clear that it was important to
have all of these facilities together in one building, in one place. In this way the building became a truly shared place where the whole
community could meet and use in different ways. Important, too, was for the building to represent and reflect the community’s
values. In response we developed what for Sydney is a new type of public building. It is not a singular typology, for which there are
many precedents, but a hybrid public building that is many different things in one: a library/resource centre, community centre and
childcare centre all integrated into one modest building and accessible by all. Transparency became an architectural theme at many
levels, allowing an inviting and welcoming building that is accessible and open to public view. At the same time it was important that
the building was not merely ‘transparent’, or only expose what is accommodated within, but that it represented and embodied the
values of the community. Accessibility, openness, transparency and sustainability were key values as was a general sense of
aspiration. (http://www.archdailycom)
Hawthorn Community Hub and Library, Hawthorn, City of Boroondara,VIC – Australia 2008
Max Webber Library, Blacktown, NSW – Australia 2005
http://www.libraries.blackrown.nswgov.au
[The library] is both heroic and intimate, civic space and community space – respectful of both the books and their readers.
— Tom Heneghan
The new library at Blacktown re-establishes a sense of place and reinforces the public realm within a city environment. It is an open
and inviting public building: transparent and welcoming; an expression of the sense of equitable access to information that the
contemporary library offers; as well as creating a place for a broad range of activities and gatherings. The library caters for a
culturally diverse population and incorporates children’s areas, youth areas, technology service areas, flexible function spaces,
exhibition areas and a café creating a welcoming centre for community engagement. The project has been embraced by the local
community and general public, with four-hundred per cent increase in patronage upon opening and has received many awards
including the AIA Premier’s Award. (FJMT)
Stamford American International School, Singapore – Singapore 2009
fjmt’s design concept balances functionality and flexibility to create best practice environments for teaching and learning
with the iconic aspiration of Cognita’s first greenfield “Centre of Excellence” within Asia. The new campus is a significant
facility accommodating a population of 2,700 students ranging from ages two to 18. The architectural form is an evolution of
the response to the design principles, the brief and the site. A rectilinear series of functional forms is rationally arranged to
create a balance of built form and open space, reaching out and integrating with the symbolic heart of the school campus,
the oval and associated lawn or assembly area. A full range of educational facilities is provided including classrooms
arranged in learning clusters, specialist learning including foreign language teaching environments, music, art, library,
theatre, gymnasiums, swimming pool, sporting field, and undercover parking and bus bay. (FJMT)
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