New South Wales
Designed to delight and inspire young minds, the Abbotsleigh Junior Library & Innovation Centre in Sydney forms a new central hub of the campus, bringing together teaching and admin facilities with active indoor and outdoor learning spaces, around a glass egg shaped building.
Creating the 1,140 sqm centre involved the partial retention and integration of an older 1950s building and the insertion of a new glass ovoid building that beautifully punctuates the more conventional campus buildings improving visual permeability and connectivity.
Interiors of the tech enabled library use organic circular forms drawn from nature with a maze of curved bookcases, an immersion for wide screen viewing, glow worm caves for quiet reading and spiral patterned ceilings referencing ripples in a pond.
Uniting the old and new buildings is an undulating canopy of glass reinforced concrete that signals the library entrance and shelters an outdoor play area.
Abbotsleigh collaborated with AJC throughout the design and construction process to realise a building that is inspiring in form and exceeds expectation in function. Located centrally and strikingly visible, the new Library and Innovation Centre makes a powerful statement of the importance of curiosity and learning.
Technology enables everything from immersive experiences to conference presentations. Meeting spaces and cordial seating invite teacher collaboration. Areas are flexible to expand in size to seat from one in an inviting nook to 300 in the auditorium. The spaces are inspiring, child centric, adult enabling and full of function with a touch of whimsy.
Bloompark Pact, Project Manager
DJCoalition, Lighting Consultant
Earthscape, Arborist
Integral Group (since changed their name to Introba), ESD Consultant
Oculus, Landscape Consultant
Project Surveyors, Building Surveyor
Shelmerdines Consulting Engineers, Electrical Consultant
Shelmerdines Consulting Engineers, Services Consultant
SLR Consulting, Acoustic Consultant
Syndeticom, AV Consultant
TTW and Richard Green Consulting, Structural Engineer
TTW, Civil Consultant
WT Partnership, Cost Consultant
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.
