Take it as read – UTS Library is a winner

The UTS Library and Reading Room were recognised ahead of two other finalists in the category – QUT’s Peter Coaldrake Education Precinct and St Benedict's Library at University of Notre Dame Australia.

The award was announced at the 2021 Changing Spaces Library Design Awards Conference, which is part of the Asia-Pacific Architecture Forum, an initiative of Architecture Media and State Library of Queensland.

The awards are run by the Australian Library and Information Assocation (ALIA) and also recognise school, special and public libraries, as well as a members’ choice award, voted on by ALIA members.

The two-level Reading Room, with its dramatic triple-height atrium, and the three-level Library are housed in UTS Central, overlooking Alumni Green at the heart of the university’s campus. The facility opened to students, researchers and academics in November 2019.

The Library’s central position on campus reflects its role in supporting the experience of students, researchers and academics during their lifetime of learning.
Michael Gonzalez, UTS Librarian

University Librarian Michael Gonzalez says the Australian Library Design Award “validates the investment the University has made into putting the Library at the core of the campus experience”.

“The Library’s intentionally central position on campus reflects its role in supporting the experience of students, researchers and academics during their lifetime of learning.

“With the continued hard work of Library staff, the UTS Blake Library and the UTS Reading Room deliver the distinctive experience that our clients expect from a university of technology.”

The judging panel noted that "the building is impressive and an excellent fit with its environment. There is a good use of natural light and appropriate distribution of spaces for different activities.

"The exterior architecture stretches the imagination and active circulation throughout the design, in particular, the staircase, is a statement that is very memorable.

"Sustainability issues were well addressed and a high priority."

 

UTS Central architect Richard Francis-Jones, of FJMT, had in mind his own student experience – at Columbia University in New York – when he sat down to imagine a contemporary version of the grand reading rooms and libraries of traditional institutions.

Great reading rooms and great libraries have always been at the heart of leading universities. The Reading Room is part of this tradition but in a 21st-century form.
Richard Francis-Jones, UTS Central architect

“I did my master’s at Columbia and I spent so much of my time in the library. It was the library during the day and the studio at night – I think libraries are such an important part of student life,” says Francis-Jones.

The Reading Room in particular is close to Francis-Jones’s heart.

“Great reading rooms and great libraries have always been at the heart of leading universities. The UTS Central Reading Room is part of this tradition but in a 21st-century form – its primary purpose is for quiet, individual study, but together,” he says.

UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs says: “An inspiring reading room has been at the heart of great institutions of learning throughout the centuries”.

The aim of the UTS Reading Room, he says, is “to give our university a place where really profound thinking can take place, free from interruptions or deadlines. In a fast-moving world dominated by technology, I think that’s important.”

To see the full list of winners for the 2021 Australian Library Design Awards, click here.