As part of the Darling Harbour urban renewal development plan, BVN worked with the City of Sydney to design a contemporary library and community hub. The project addressed the City of Sydney’s strategic goals of providing a place for its innovative library collection, offering cutting-edge technology and digital resources to educate and connect the community, delivering an engaging program of events and services to the community, and providing welcoming spaces and facilities to enhance the city’s liveability.

The hive-shaped space sits over two levels of a Kengo Kuma and Associates-designed building, creating a seamless connection with the base building while inserting playful and colourful elements of the library’s character.

The library’s floor is recycled rubber on both levels, and the design features a recycled leather wall on level 1. The 2150m2 space hosts a collection of over 30,000 items, meeting rooms, presentation and multi-purpose rooms, a children’s area, and a maker space.