Burrowmunditory clan of Wiradjuri Nation
New South Wales
Connecting deeply to Wiradjuri Country and the project’s historic setting, the Hilltops Young High School Library is an integrated joint use facility enabling whole of life learning for the community of Hilltops.
The development incorporates this new integrated school and community library as the core element of a Cultural, Community and Education Precinct, evolving the definition of what a contemporary rural library can be. Through an urbanist approach, the design supports opportunities for community gatherings and activates the site as a civic precinct. It will also interpret the rich context of the site by responding to its Aboriginal and European heritage. Diverse facilities include a vast collection of library books, Wiradjuri learning centre and extensive community facilities such as an art gallery, wellbeing consulting, tertiary study centre, presentation space and meeting rooms, creative arts, multimedia and maker spaces and a café.
The strong collaboration between Hayball, Michael Mossman Architect, Hilltops Young School and Hilltop Young Council is reflected in the Hilltops Young High School Library. It is a clever design facilitating shared use of the facility by the community, including a dedicated Wiradjuri learning centre and dedicated community mental health response centre.
The scale of the building sensitively responds to the adjacent heritage courthouse. The façade is stepped to enable separate internal and external gathering spaces for the community so the building can be used by multiple different users at any one time. Cultural artefacts are embedded in exhibition spaces as well as the building materials, telling stories both of local First Nations community as well as the Chinese and European community.
The Hilltop Young High School is the output of a truly integrated and collaborative design process.
The new library building has given Young exciting new opportunities for community growth and lifelong learning and is unique to the region. Two of the highlights of the new building for the staff and users are the welcoming children’s space, which is ideally suited for our early literacy programs and the varied study spaces, which are perfect for students of all ages and have proven popular via bookings and casual use since the library opened. Pleasingly, a significant number of new members have joined the library since opening, with a substantial proportion being students of varying ages and young families.
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
