Approaching the library from the north, visitors travel across a fragmented
landscape of permeable paving and softscape that appears to morph into
the plaza from the existing coastline jetties. This plaza base continues up
the library’s hillside, which becomes an outdoor amphitheatre. The plaza
entry extends upward to form the building’s core. Addressed by this public
space; along with a café, bookstore, and gallery, the visitor is drawn inward
through the ground treatment, and upwards by the atrium and light.
The building will be constructed primarily from concrete, weathered
steel and glass, thoughtfully sourced to be energy and cost effective.
Designed and detailed to be constructed efficiently with minimal material
waste, capable of deconstruction and reuse. Internal space will
be passively ventilated through light wells, and solar gain from the roof
garden will be stored to heat the ground and intermediate floors. Supplementary
renewable energy is provided by the tides. A hydraulic
buoy system rises at high tide which fragments the skin on the eastern
façade. As the tide subsides, the float system lowers with the water
level which in part closes the eastern skin and opens western façade.