Library Buildings around the World

The ground floor of the library appears as a large and comfortable public living room. The atmosphere is warm and the light
controlled. The floors and cellings are dark timber and the leather furniture, lush and and inviting, sits on large rugs. The ground
floor accommodates the large newspaper and magazine collection on one side, a media wall containing television broadcasting
program from all over the world on the other side. It also houses 2 dozen computers available for online research and reading. At the
centre of the building, an atrium cuts through 5 levels to the sky. A bright pit under the atrium houses the large city model,
reinforcing the footprint of the atrium on the ground floor plane. The pit is covered with a trafficable glass floor. (Lacoste)
Customs House Library is one of the latest additions to the City of Sydney Library Network. Spanning over three levels of the venue,
Customs House Library is one of the most stylised contemporary branches of the City of Sydney 9 libraries group, and is open seven
days. It is the anchor of the Customs House building featuring bold and modern furnishings, as well as traditional library spaces.
With access to this network of libraries holding over 400,000 items, Customs House Library has a collection of over 50,000 items.
Highlights of the library include the largest range of local and international newspapers and magazines in an Australian public
library, free internet access via library computers as well as unwired broadband, and a beautiful and quiet Grand Reading Room.
One of the most coveted features of the library are the lounges on the ground floor and level 1 inviting you to meet, relax, read and
absorb the unique Customs House atmosphere.
(http://www.sydneycustomshouse.com.au/thelibrary/)
Lyons Architects , Melbourne, VIC – Australia
http://www.lyonsarch.com.au
Libraries :
Headley Bull Centre for World Politics, Australian National University, Canberry, ACT – Australia 2008
…Adhering to the architectural firm’s guiding philosophy ‘form follows ideas’, the Hedley Bull Centre is designed to enable and
encourage dialogue between the staff and students of the various academic units who inhabit its corridors—interacting as parts of a
whole for the common goals of rigorous academic scholarship and teaching excellence. Focused on these goals, the Asia-Pacific
College of Diplomacy, the Department of International Relations, the Department of Political and Social Change, and the Strategic
and Defence Studies Centre moved into the Centre over one month prior to its official opening. This means that more than 120
individuals (including academic staff, visiting fellows, doctoral students and academic unit support staff) will work in the Centre.
Each unit also has its own large library/reading room with windows that look out into a central atrium space, whilst a café will
adjoin the Centre. Large water retention tanks, a grey water system, double-glazing, high mass construction, and a ‘mixed mode’
climate control system have also been incorporated in the design and installed to ensure an environmentally sustainable Centre…
(http://epress.anu.edu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/o5/app017.pdf)
University of New South Wales, Law Building, Library, Kensignton Campus, Kensignton, NSW –
Australia 2006
…The design is structured around a central ‘agora’ space which connects all levels of the building and provides a place for formal
and informal meeting and exchange. The Law library, located over two levels, is the symbolic and functional heart of the new
building. This daylit space allows students and academic staff to study and undertake research in a purpose designed setting
overlooking the treed environment of University Mall …
(http://www.archdaily.com/101835/university-of-new-south-wales-law-building-lyons/)
Online Training Centre, Victoria University, St. Albans, VIC – Australia 2001
3.700 m²,
Awards:
2002 Australian Institute of Architects Victoria Architecture Medal
2002 Australian Institute of Architects William Wardell Award (Institutional)
The $10 million multi award-winning Victoria University Online Training Centre was designed for the Business Studies, Arts Design
and Multimedia Departments at the St Albans Campus in Melbourne’s west.
Kane Construction’s challenge was to not only to encapsulate the explicit architectural elements of the design, but to marry these
with a commitment to the local environmental issues, extending to land care and wildlife management. Kane’s implementation of
strict control measures avoided any disruption to the local protected species and residing wildlife and their habitats.
Extending off existing facilities into a natural grassland area, the 3700m2 building sits atop stonework batters constructed from
locally excavated material. The structure consisted of a reinforced concrete ground and first floor edifice, with steel framed roof and
fade.
The distinctive yet simple two storey building was clad in a aught skin of computer generated patterns on Vitrepanel -a first for this
product. The reptile-like patterns reflected the flora and fauna of Melbourne's Western plains, and their manufacture expressed the
work that the institution promoted - the virtual world from inside a computer flipped to the outside of the building.
The world class facility accommodates over 300 computers and a state of the art multi media lecture theatre. Victoria University
students are training with the latest technologies in one of the most stimulating and encouraging learning environments available to
design and online technology undergraduates.
The project was delivered under a fixed price lump sum contract in 2001 following a 12-month construction period.
Our working relationship with Kane Constructions has been a rewarding one. An open and professional approach has always been
evident and this project was no exception.
Gary Carter, Victoria University
(http://www.kane.com.au/project/online-training-facility-victoria-university)
The building is located between a grassland and an established university campus. The building facades are conditioned to their local
environs and orientation. The north facade is clad in corporate silver panels in response to the formality of the existing campus
architecture. The other three facades are clad in custom imaged panels to form an identity for the building that in some way
expresses the work of the computer environment within.
At a distance the building sits comfortably within the landscape. Upon closer inspection the facade is made of a repeated tiled image
manufactured in the computer. Rather than attempting to represent digital space, computer technology is used to make a repeating
digital tile whose technique and process is wholly of the computer. Constructed in Photoshop and 3D Max, the panel appears to have
depth. When tiled the golden stripes/deep furrows form a continuity that wraps the box, an artificial digital landscape.
(http://architecturelab.net/2010/12/victoria-university-on-line-training-centre-bylyons/)
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