A Third Space – Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre by Kosloff Architecture

In the heart of Warrnambool, a major coastal town in western Victoria on the lands of the Gunditjmara people, the new Library and Learning Centre replaces the previous library with a three-storey, contemporary building connected to the nearby heritage-listed 1868 Orderly Room by a glazed link. Driven by a conceptual framework derived from extensive public consultation, Kosloff Architecture’s inspiring public space brings together education, community and art.

Located on the South West TAFE campus, the Library and Learning Centre provides amenities for both the local community and TAFE students. The new facilities include a vast book collection, public computers, an indoor-outdoor cafe, games areas and study and meeting spaces as well as exhibition and performance spaces. The library aims to embody the idea of the ‘third place’ – a creative space between work and home for enjoyment, exchanging ideas and fostering relationships.

The library aims to embody the idea of the ‘third place’ – a creative space between work and home for enjoyment, exchanging ideas and fostering relationships.

The vaulting contemporary form borrows from the palette of the original structure it adjoins; expanses of cream interspersed with long char-coal lines creating just enough continuity for the two to harmonise while still allowing the new form to shine. This is also evident in the original in-ternal rendered-brick walls of the Orderly Room, which are left exposed as a majestic reminder of the persisting history of the building. The glass link joining the two buildings opens at both sides, serving as a passageway for students crossing the campus. Glass is used generously at all three levels, washing the shared spaces in natural light and offering views over Warrnambool township and the wild Southern Ocean.

No opportunity to create the sublime is wasted, with each necessary component and detail fully embraced by Kosloff’s design. For example, the simple need for acoustic dampening is expressed on the top floor in timber forms with perforated bases. The inverted square grid is sculptural in its repeating forms and striking timber grain while performing a key function in any library, offering the rare quality of pleasing both the visual and aural senses. The effect is more pronounced at night, with in-set lighting creating dances of light and shadow, accentuating the depth and variation of the design.

The interior architecture is a counterplay of forms, the severity of long lines and sharp angles softened by circles and columns. The repeating rectangular forms of the timber stairs and frameless glass balustrades are soothed by forest green cylindrical bolsters and plump ottomans leading up the landing in the Orderly Room. Moving through the stairwell ascending the building, this dialogue continues as sharp angles are soothed at each level by half-moon parapets clad in timber, the warmth of the natural material and smoothness of the cladding inviting one to keep climbing and continuing to explore.

No opportunity to create the sublime is wasted, with each necessary component and detail fully embraced by Kosloff’s design.

A union of the new and the old encompasses the Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre. The substantial heritage of the Orderly Room is embraced by the contemporary architecture of the new structure, its articulated rectilinear forms subtly referencing the familiar civic plan of the Warrnambool city grid.