GREEN SQUARE LIBRARY AND PLAZA DESIGN COMPETITION. SYDNEY

 

The library consists of three shelves completely free of any equipment and structural elements. The plateaus extend from East to West over a length of 145m. The width of each level varies from 18.00m in the West to 2.50m on the balconies located in the East. All the services and equipment - toilets, lifts, emergency stairs, ducts - are arranged on both sides of the floors.

The objective of this principle is to provide great flexibility in the interior layout as well as great ease for transformations and the future development of the program.

​

The boundary of the light rail to the north and that of the easement to the south determine the footprint and the plan shape of the building.

 

The public entrance to the library is located in the center of the building, it is through and connects the two north and south sides of the square.

On the ground floor, the entire part directly east of the entrance is devoted to the children's program. It is divided into two spaces, one indoors, the other for outdoor activities. The mobile layout of the square allows the expansion of this outdoor space for events related to childhood.

The west side of the entrance leads to the lobby/gallery, cafe, function room and central staircase.

The ground floor level is at 15.55.

 

The envelope of the trays is entirely glazed, made of high performance glass. Planted pots of bamboo line the edges of exterior floors and filter views of the surroundings through an irregular plant screen. The eastern end of the platforms is left open and forms an outdoor reading room where the public can sit freely as in a park.

 

The plaza is made up of a clear stone floor, uniform and continuously sloping from level 18.50 on the east side, to level 13.80 along Botany Road.

On the ground are placed pots planted with bamboo, these pots are mobile and take the desired layout according to the type of activity that one wants to give to the place: simple place of urban stay where one can sit freely , outdoor extension of the library, market organization or open-air cinema session.

The ground is simply squared with a frame of 1.80 x 1.80m which serves as a reference for the arrangement of the planted pots. The pots are moved using one or two electric carts.

By this simple device we want to avoid clutter and saturation of space, to give the freedom to have both a planted place to stay or a completely cleared space.

 

It seems to us that it is in the flexibility of the layout and the sobriety of the devices and materials that the use of the space by the public will be the greatest.

And it is a question here of public space.

​

mf