Whitlam Library, University of Western Sydney
lahznimmo were engaged by the University of Western Sydney to refurbish and expand the Whitlam Library on their Parramatta Campus. The existing building built in the early 1990’s did not fulfil the Library’s needs in terms of servicing the growing number of students as well as providing the type of space and access to technology which is fundamental to learning today.
The project, done in stages, involved infilling an under croft area for staff and refurbishing the main library to create a series of hubs supporting flexible learning centres. A variety of spaces were developed allowing for: social/collaborative peer to peer settings; reflective settings and seminar feedback settings. The overall objective was to accommodate an additional 300 student study spaces bringing the total Library population to 1000. In addition to the internal refurbishment a “secure” landscaped courtyard was also created allowing students to access to sun and fresh air in addition to the traditional controlled internal environment.
