COMMUNITY CENTER

2019ARCH50
• Surry Hills Library and Community Centre – Sydney, Australia
Architects: FJMT
Area: 2497 m²
Year: 2009
Surry Hills Library and community centre provides a diverse range of services to the communities of
Surry Hills and surrounds.

The Surry Hills Library and community centre achieves excellence in sustainable design. It set new
benchmarks in environmental performance for multi-purpose public buildings.
The building has a unique air quality system using natural filtering properties of plants. Air is naturally
cooled under the building, reducing the need for artificial cooling by some 50%.

The process works like this:

•Air is drawn in at the top of the atrium

•The air passes through special plants acting as ‘passive’ filters

•Air then flows under the building where its temperature is conditioned by a thermal labyrinth, a series
of high thermal-mass rock baskets

•From here, the filtered and cooled air flows throughout the different levels of the building.
Design features to achieve significant savings in energy use:

•High levels of natural lighting throughout the building and daylight controlled light fixtures

•Large louvre façade which moves and ‘tracks’ the sun to control internal glare and heat levels

•Natural grasses on the roof to reduce energy loss

•Movement controlled lighting for public and work spaces

•Solar roof panels to provide supplementary power to the building.

Building materials have been selected for their durability and sustainability:

•A post-tensioning structural system that reduces the quantity of concrete required for structural
framing

•Use of alternative materials to PVC for plumbing and electrical services

•Finishes that contain low levels of products which harm the environment such as volatile organic
compounds (VOCs)

•Timber products sourced from sustainable forests.