Library & Innovation Centre, Abbotsleigh Junior School

Designed to delight and inspire young minds, the Abbotsleigh Junior Library & Innovation Centre in Sydney performs a number of roles on campus simultaneously. A glass ovoid building around which new teaching facilities and active indoor/outdoor learning spaces now constellate, the form and circulation paths open up and rebalance level changes across the campus. Inherent in the brief was the concept of a library ‘that brings literature to life’, if not literally, then allegorically. That idea drove all the architecture, interior and landscape decisions of the project. The school also wanted more creative outdoor play spaces, a tech-enabled, discovery-based library and environment, which the old library lacked. The existing school library and 1950s classrooms of the Everett Building had become unfit for purpose. This project aligns with the school’s Strategic Plan and its master plan for campus renewal on a constrained site. Developing the new 1,140 sqm centre involved a careful partial demolition of the Evertt Building and stitching it into the new glass-walled library. The new ovoid shape tucks neatly between existing orthogonal buildings, and offers a new focal point for the campus, while mediating the differing ground levels, and opening new connections to outdoor play and assembly areas. The glass walls and burnished copper finish of their vertical framing harmonises with the material language on campus, while the existing building is refurbished as additional classrooms, offices, tech-hub for teachers and an auditorium. The elliptical shape also affords teaching staff a 360-degree view of all library users. Inside the library, architectural elements and details are inspired by story-book illustrations and elements in nature – stepping stones, lily pads, ripples in a pond. They find expression in the library through the maze of curved bookcases, a circular immersion dome for wrap-around wide-screen film viewing, sculptural cut-outs in the building skin treated as glow-worm ‘caves’ for quiet reading, and spiralling ceiling coffers through the library, all hint at the idea that learning is not a linear path. Sustainable design includes repurposing the Evertt Building and lift, significantly reducing material waste and embodied carbon. The glass perimeter walls and two-storey, south-facing void deliver abundant daylight without heat load. Outside, uniting the old and new buildings is a broad sweeping canopy of glass-reinforced concrete that signals the library entrance and shelters an outdoor play area. Additional benefits include better staff areas and tech hub, multi-function teaching and assembly spaces adaptable for future use, improved circulation and accessibility through the campus and rejuvenated facilities including the assembly hall and canteen.