Community
30 June, 2023
Library accolades continue
THE new Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre has won another two major architecture awards.
The library, situated in Kepler Street on the South West TAFE campus, was recognised with a Public Architecture Award and the Regional Prize at the recent Victorian Architecture Awards.
The awards were hosted by the Victorian chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects.
The institute’s judges said the vision for the new library was attentive, generous and transformative, combining the adaptive re-use of the heritage Orderly Room.
The judges also said the building was “compelling and beautifully detailed, mediating its context with a thoughtful scale and palette. The structural solution is clever, the concrete curves of the façade appear weightless in contrast to the heavy heritage context.”
“Wall to window ratios provide an efficient thermal envelope, allowing for intimate occupation within the façade depth between framed views and regulated daylight,” they said.
Warrnambool mayor Debbie Arnott congratulated the architects, Kosloff Architecture, and the team from council and TAFE staff who worked on the project.
“These are hotly contested and prestigious awards and the judges have recognised the effort and consideration that have gone into this unique building,” she said.
“Ultimately, the library has also won over the judges who really count (members of the Warrnambool community) who have been coming to the new library in droves to borrow books, attend special events, use the technology or to simply spend some time quietly reading in comfort.”
Architect Julian Kosloff said while all of the buildings vying for awards were beautiful, a key measure of the library’s success was the positive effect it had on the Warrnambool community.
Mr Kosloff said locating the public library within the TAFE campus contributed to a “great pollination” which occurs in these public places.
The library opened its doors to the public on October 13, 2022.
The $20.25 million library was funded by the Victorian Government ($16.3 million), Warrnambool City council ($3.12 million) and TAFE ($830,000).