Ringwood Library

The building was designed as a shaded box of knowledge and learning, books and digital information, floating above an open and transparent civic ground floor. The building sits as a pivot on the corner of Maroondah High Street and the new urban square, and is designed to be a visually permeable, with frameless floor to ceiling glazing and with a floor finish that continues the paving pattern of the public space into the building. Large full height doors allow the ground floor to open out into the square in the summer, and invite the public into the art gallery, café and reading areas. Above the ground floor, two floors of books and study spaces provide space for learning and concentration.

Ascending a central staircase, the more private and quiet functions of the library reveal themselves culminating in a tall open plan top floor, complete with reading and study spaces.