The place that doesn't want your soul or wallet

The designs have been showcased in a short film currently screening on the ground floor of the library, which encourages us to consider the possibilities – such as a “library of wonder”, “the library as the Auckland pa”, “the library as an orchard”, “the library as an urban forest”.

The designs for a new central library are the result of a 12-week studio in Advanced Design by Masters of Architecture students, University of Auckland. 

It was led by professional teaching fellow, Chris Barton, in collaboration with Jon Rennie, a principal of Athfield Architects, which has decades of experience designing libraries.

The project framed the library as “The Third Place”, in reference to US sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s theory that to be emotionally healthy every person needs three places - home, work, and a to-be-defined Third Place.

Mr Barton says libraries are a kind of Third Place, “a community space, and somewhere to go other than home and work. The reason people go there is not always to do with the collections, but for free Wi-Fi and various other reasons - libraries have become more like urban living rooms.”

Librarians from Auckland Central also got involved in the project, briefing students and critiquing their designs as if they were a real-world client.

Mirla Edmundson, General Manager Libraries and Information, says it was an inspiring project to be involved in. It was also timely as the library has been granted Council approval to conduct a feasibility study into the future of the current central library building.

“The building we’re in at the moment was designed in the 60s, built in the 70s, added onto in the 80s and has had several refurbishments over the years.

“It was very elegant and functional for a library in the 1960s, but if you compare that to what a library is now, they are very different beasts. So it’s really important that we start considering the future.”

The students involved had a diverse range of backgrounds, some of them had never visited a central library in their life, but in some ways that was liberating. “There was freedom in their thinking that I found really stimulating.”

The students explored five different sites around Auckland: the existing site in Lorne Street, Wynyard Quarter, Britomart, the Victoria Street car park (commonly known as the “Bungy site”) and Aotea Square.

Students visited libraries around Auckland and New Zealand, and it became apparent that the ground floor is key to a successful modern library, says Mr Barton.

“The library reaches out into the community and surroundings. I know that’s a bit clichéd, but we could see how important that was.

“The ground floors of libraries have changed a lot in recent years - there’s usually a café, a kid’s play area, exhibition areas and community meeting/gathering spaces. And also what are referred to as ‘maker’ spaces, which allow various forms of making often using digital tools such as video editing, sound recording and 3D printers.”

He points to the description made by author Zadie Smith, who once wrote that the new-old library was “the only thing left on the high street that doesn’t want either your soul or your wallet”.

Ms Edmundson says the designs showed that the students understood the library as a truly democratic space, and that needs to be embedded in the architecture. “That is, what will help someone step into that space – what makes it a democratic and inclusive place rather than austere and exclusive?”

The scale of this project is not for the faint-hearted, she adds. “Few architects would get the opportunity to work on a building of this scale - 18,000 square metres - and this level of complexity, but the presentations were amazing. I thought, ‘wow imagine if we had the opportunity to progress this?’”