Marrickville Library front facade

Marrickville Library & Pavilion, Marrickville, NSW

Architecture: BVN

When is a library not a library?

Across the globe, libraries are evolving. Edgy, active spaces are replacing silent, traditional reading rooms. Vibrant open-air spaces are bringing people together if not under one roof, certainly with one spirit. This still speaks to a love of books and a sense of community – but with a new kind of energy. Marrickville is one such evolution.

Marrickville Library includes the adaptive re-use of the 1897 Marrickville Hospital. Paying tribute to this legacy we retained and restored many of the original features: timber windows and balustrades, terrazzo flooring, and ceiling beams.

The original hospital ward building now houses the main library collection and administration. The old veranda has been restored and adapted for outdoor reading areas.

The visible connections between heritage hospital and contemporary library are overt on purpose: designed to be a dialogue between past and present.

The striking rooftop of the entry echoes the shapes of the original. New library floors connect to the old hospital building via a suspended glazed walkway on level one. Generous floor to ceiling windows link the new library spaces to the old building. And a long, narrow skylight runs along the roofline of the hospital’s original slate tiled roof, bringing sunlight into the main atrium.

The adaptation gives new life to the old, strengthening its bones and bringing it into another century, for another generation.

Marrickville Library 16.jpg
Marrickville Library 15.jpg
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Marrickville Library Marrickville NSW, architectural photography by Ben Greaves, Light & Lines
Previous

Bondi Pavillion - Tonkin Zulaikha Greer
Next

The Shine Dome, Canberra