Library Buildings around the World

Tweed Heads Library, Tweed Heads, NSW – Australia 1999
500 m², $ 1.200.000
The Bruce Graham Library at Tweed Heads (enlarged and refurbished in 1999) is located in the Tweed Heads Civic Centre.
Future Sense + Place Sense, Montain Creek, QLD – Australia
http://www.placesense.com.au
Libraries:
Montessori International College Library, Sippy Downs, QLD – Australia 2010
2011 Queensland Architecture Awards, Sunshine Coast Regional Commendation
2011 Queensland Architecture Awards, Sustainable Architecture State Commendation
2012 Sunshine Coast Regional Council Living Smart Glossies – Resource Saver Award
Montessori pedagogy requires place to be a cultural resource for human development and learning. Therefore the library building
aims to show students how it is put together with the authentic expression of materials and structure – revealing the “skin and
bones” of the architecture and contemporary building practices/technology.
This aim worked hand in glove with the programmatic need for future disassembly of the building when the College relocates to its
future campus. A steel structural frame and modular plywood wall and floor panels provides the generating principle for organising
the library into two spaces - a small library pavilion housing the most valuable resources and a larger learning commons in the form
of a luminous verandah.
The library fits comfortably in a highly constrained site amongst trees and built infrastructure. The shimmering zincalume cladding
on a simple box with skillion roof recalls memories of the local cane shed whilst at the same time establishes a contrasting image of
evolution and change for the College. The library verandah’s polycarbonate screens open to visually connect to the surrounding
landscape and informal gathering area and like sails can be operated to capture breezes. The small library pavilion offers a generous
volume with southern clerestorey capturing daylight and expansive sky views.
(http://www.placesense.com.au/montessori-college-library.html)
Garner Davis Architects, St. Kilda, VIC – Australia
http://garnerdavis.com.au
Libraries:
Mornington Branch Library, Rosebud, VIC – Australia 2005
Awards:
RAIA (Royal Australian Institute of Architects) Victorian Architecture Award 2005
Our process of mapping the lines of the site for the new Mornington Branch Library resulted in an abstract composition comprising
overlaid topographical contours; the direction of prevailing winds; site boundaries; established pathways; the edges of impacting
adjacent buildings; compass points and, in deference to the centenary of Matthew Flinders 1802 discovery of Port Phillip Bay, a
line replicating the drawn description of Flinders local navigational path tracing the headland at Mornington. The built library
retains the site lines. Paths of travel are marked by directional skylights, nodes and points of discovery within the wide floor plate
are highlighted by a detail, an item of geometric joinery or an event on the ceiling. The articulate ceiling proposes spatial control
without impacting the permeability of the interior. A glass fa ade stretches along Vancouver Street, shifting with the navigation
line and gesturing to the sea, its transparency showcasing the library s book collection. All windows are carefully screened with a
secondary layer of built shading, providing depth to the fa ades, ensuring a constant reference between interior and exterior and
imbuing the library with a subdued ambient natural light. The new library is physically separated from its existing built context on
two planes. Horizontally, spaces are left between the library and adjacent existing municipal offices resultant courtyards provide
outlook, light, and a margin between new and old constructions. In the vertical plane, the library exploits the natural fall of the site,
hovering above the walls of its undercroft carpark. In lieu of signage, text annotates the architecture, and information is entwined in
narrative. (Garner)
Architects develop ideas differently. Some rely on dogma; others investigate and research; some reproduce previous architecture;
and some just dream. Philosophies for design develop from literature, theatre, myths, industry and technology. Exploiting these
options, architects imagine a building, which they then attempt to document and have built. But there are some fundamentals that
stick. One is the idea that a building is a machine for living in. The modernist creed suggested that the function of a building would
suggest its form, spaces and aesthetics - giant ocean liners and rockets were models for architecture. It was found over time - when
the expression of architecture became so reduced that it became a simplistic accounting spread sheet - that modernism failed. It did
not account for the greater complexities of living, such as emotion, the senses, history, references and faith. The young architects
practising as Garner Davis have followed closely this development from modernism to a more complex architecture. Their
generation is not weighed down by the dogma of "less is more"; nor does it contain a given set of rules for designing. This makes
their work all the more interesting because, on the face of it, their buildings are modern, (most notable their Wagga Wagga offices),
yet closer inspection shows how they have given their buildings a contemporary context. This subtle shift is realised in their design
for Mornington Branch Library. Not only does the building illustrate a personal architectural philosophy, but also ideas about what
makes a small local public library. Garner Davis have realised that there has been a new definition of what constitutes libraries over
recent years, so they have used Mornington to exhibit functional changes in library design, but also to define a personal architecture
attitude. Like museums, libraries have become more like shopping malls than contemplative places. Main streets, "shops", big signs,
computer screens and hectares of open public "interactive" space have replaced the shelves, nooks and carrels of the past. Garner
Davis' building is on an old municipal site, one that may have discouraged mere mortals, but they have invigorated it with complex
ideas and historical connections that imbue the building with layers of meaning, and give it a richness not normally associated with
modernism. Not to labour the point, but, at face level, it seems to be a crisp, neat, cleanly detailed building. You could be forgiven if
that is all you understood of the architecture. And that is reason enough to marvel at, and enjoy, the richer experience that
Mornington offers. The library building is effectively designed as a novel. It has chapters, structure, passages and sentences - all
comprising a language that expresses intentions - but without the preaching that often accompanies this style of architecture. The
plot centres on a need to assemble more than 50,000 books, plus computers and reading spaces, in a building that is not all new, but
modified. The site is almost hidden from public view, and it was to be an open, flexible space - meaning little specificity given to
individual spaces. Drama unfolds when we realise part of the design device was to use Matthew Flinders' navigation course diagrams
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