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“It’s a bold move. The
town and community
was a little down and
lost. We felt this was an
opportunity to really do
something quite strong
and for the people
to feel very proud of
this new building.”
GEOFF CROKER, ARCHITECT
Were there specific site challenges?
You need to be across all buildings, so it meant people
in the office made lots of trips to Moe. The old site
infrastructure was a challenge and involved early works
such as optic-fibre and underground power-lines.
There’s lots of challenges building next to a train station,
vibrations, noise. The glass was supplied locally, so that
was probably one of the easier aspects, if there is such
a thing as an easy aspect in a very complex building.
Did the site and setting generate most of the design?
It was really about understanding the context and site.
When we first looked at it, it was the back of shops facing
a train line. We thought, “What are we going to do here?”
Once we elevated ourselves a level and thought
a little broader about this valley and mountains, it really
started to fall into place. That’s really when a project
gets exciting.
Has there been any un-anticipated success?
Well, perhaps it’s not a complete surprise but we’re
delighted that the community is really embracing it.
The nice part about it is that people feel uplifted about
being in the town. The community has produced lovely
blogs writing about it. There were kids on open day, very
excited about the new building and being able to watch
trains come and go. It has genuinely given a true focal-
point to a city, so it’s got a much broader appeal than just
as a library. It’s quite an iconic, very dramatic building
that cantilevers over the street by about seven metres.
It has been exciting to see how people engage with it.
We hoped it would happen but to actually be there
to see it succeed like that is really a lovely thing.