The library typology has changed tremendously over the past several years.
For the La Trobe University Library project, Kosloff Architecture worked closely with the leadership group of the library to create an interior that supported a conceptual shift from ‘collection’ to ‘connection.’
This project fundamentally involved the reworking of an existing shell to create a new library for the community of La Trobe University in Bendigo, Victoria.
Spread across three levels, the project’s scope included an entry gallery, consultation rooms, ASK La Trobe information pods, postgraduate lounge, board room, and an integrated display of the seminal ‘Sandhurst’ book collection (the main book collection is elsewhere in the building.
Kosloff Architecture’s client was keen to challenge the concept of a traditional library so the design team embraced the possibility of a new typology with a focus on facilitating community ‘connection’, rather than just spaces for book ‘collection.’
Working within an existing shell is always highly challenging.
The project budget was extremely constrained for a fit-out of this nature and scale, and a clear hierarchy of investment needed to be established in order to deliver the functional aspects of the project without detracting from the overall concept.
Rather than seeing this as a problem, the Kosloff Architecture design team chose to see this as an opportunity to leave parts of the interior undefined and full of possibility, suggestive of a future imbued with optimism.
So many aspects of the existing interior were retained or left exposed in their found state.
This was driven by both cost constraints and a desire to avoid waste and unnecessary interventions.
The aesthetic approach was to leave key elements such as the existing ceiling infrastructure and vermiculite-coated steel structure untouched and unadorned.
The new architectural interventions were treated as installations clearly distinguishable from the shell, with autonomous objects separated from the ceiling and floating from the floor.
Cascading pods adorn the grand stair from the main entry, formed by semitransparent, glass structures that house the secured book collection.
Their blurred spines contribute the only colours of the space, reimagining them as artifacts surrounding the central stair that links the levels.
Arrangements of clear, mirrored, and reeded glass create a kaleidoscope of reflection and transparency throughout all levels, blurring the figures of occupants as they make their way up through the interior.
It felt fitting to the architects that a newly defined library space might literally be a reflection of itself.
Project Details
Project Size – 3,150 m2
Site Area – 3,150 m2
Completion Date – 2021
Building Levels – 3
Project Team
Architecture
Kosloff Architecture
Kosloff Architecture believes that in order to build a highly engaged practice culture, they need to be willing to challenge existing ideas regarding ownership, succession planning, career trajectories, and modes of working.
Photography
Derek Swalwell
Derek is an architectural and editorial photographer from Melbourne, Australia. His name is synonymous with the photographic representation of the architectural landscape in Australia and beyond.
Photo Gallery
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Design © 2022 Kosloff Architecture. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2022 Derek Swalwell. All Rights Reserved.
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