Research Post: Surry Hills Library and Community Centre

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Surry Hills Library and Community Centre was designed by architectural firm, FJMT in 2009 and is located in Sydney, Australia.

 Surry Hills Library and Community Centre / FJMT - Facade 

Surry Hills Library and Community Centre, FJMT, 2009 

The location of this library played a significant role in the design choices. Surry Hills is a lively suburb in Sydney known for its diverse community of different ethnic background, income and age. The surrounding architecture consists of residential apartments, terraced houses and both commercial and industrial buildings. The building requirements were presented with close discourse with the local community, they wanted a space that everyone could share. Therefore the building combined the facilities of a library, community centre and children centre into one which correctly expressed the community's character (ArchDaily, 2010). What my design and the Surry Hills Library have in common is the range of spaces offerred. Both designs have a community hub, childrens area, meeting rooms and so on which promote social interaction and acts as a place that fosters social engagement.

The buildings exterior design comprises of different elements including an open public space, a glass atrium and a 'U' shaped suspended timber structure that covers three sides of the building leaving the last side to be just the glass structure. The use of a glass facade was to symbolize the library being open and welcome to the public. Transparency became a theme for the building to also represent the values of the community such as accessibility to all (fjcstudio, 2024). In my design, I am also using oak wood as a cladding but also have glass on the front and surrounding sides of the building for optimal use of natural light. The interior is also designed to be a welcoming and flexible open space for users and enhances the general flow of people from one floor to another. The design of the chldren's area in particular incorporates bright colours and playful features making it visually stimulating for the children. The area features large surrounding windows filling the area with daylight and a view of the outside greenery. There is also an outside play area connected to the interior for the children to engage with. 

The building has a lot of open spaces that promote ventilation cutting down on the need for air conditioning. It also has more energy saving technological aspects such as the automated louvre system on the timber facade. These open and close to control how much sunlight enters the building which is good for both warm and cool weather conditions, 'The new centre has been designed with the aim of being a benchmark for sustainable, low-energy-use buildings while still maintaining the functionality of a public building' (fjcstudio, 2024). The library is an example of how architecute can blend functionality and sustainability with community centred designs

 

References 

ArchDaily (2010). Surry Hills Library and Community Centre / FJMT. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/57339/surry-hills-library-and-community-centre-fjmt [Accessed 8 Aug. 2024].

fjcstudio. (2024). Surry Hills Library & Community Centre. [online] Available at: https://fjcstudio.com/projects/surry-hills-library/ [Accessed 8 Aug. 2024].




Comments

  1. Sam DarganAugust 12, 2024 at 4:57 AM

    Good effort in terms of the impact and relation this research has to your project. Would like to hear more about the use of ventilation, perhaps this is something you can follow up on in a later post.

    ReplyDelete

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