QUT Kelvin Grove Library Upgrade
The refurbishment of QUT’s Kelvin Grove Library reveals the celebrated concrete library building whilst synchronising it with technological and spatial demands of a modern tertiary library. Comprehensive replanning delivers a rich mix of personal and group learning. External spaces and integrated artworks deliver a library focused on serving a creative campus community into the future.
Project Details
Architects
Peddle Thorp & James Cubitt Architects
Award
WINNER: Category 2: Renovation/Modernisation of an entire School/Major Facility
Address
R Block. QUT Kelvin Grove Campus, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane 4059
Submitter
Peddle Thorp & James Cubitt Architects
Cost
$12M
Photographer
Roger D’Souza
Project Overview
Embedded within the academic precinct of the Kelvin Grove campus of the Queensland University of Technology, the redeveloped Library locates both the physical and conceptual heart of the campus. The project comprised the extensive refurbishment of four of the six floors underscored by the simple philosophy of stripping back the layers from the last 30 years to reveal the base building whilst allowing an integration of new technologies demanded by a modern tertiary library.
Confident in its non-archival status, the library’s brief prioritised user amenity over additional collection storage areas. The outcome delivers an increased capacity of over 200 seats, ranging from group focused training rooms to personal retreat spaces on the quieter upper floors, a roof top terrace, media rooms and a computer gaming lab where developmental and ‘retro’ games can be accessed for both research and pleasure. The library’s role as a venue for both self-directed and curriculum based learning and as point of connection for the wider Brisbane community has shaped the spaces within.
The Library’s entry level is now outward focused and addresses the campus’ main pedestrian spine and café. The creation of a new north facing double height entry and the opportunistic formation of a plaza furnished with a generous raised lawn and activated edge extends the library out into the landscape. The layering of staff and public functions on the entry level and the views within the collection and work areas on the upper floors add layers to the experience.
A pivotal component in the replanning of the entry floor and the journey to the levels above has been the new stair and central void. Pulling arriving visitors into and upwards towards the collection. The stair is unexpectedly roofed with a canopy of upturned books set within a mirrored frame. The infinite canopy of multi-coloured fabric covered books drawn from the predominantly humanities focused collection serves as a reminder of the collection above.
