Surry Hills Library and community centre upgrade

These works have set new benchmarks in sustainable public buildings.

Project Status: Completed

What we’re doing

Surry Hills Library and community centre provides a diverse range of services to the communities of Surry Hills and surrounds.

The first Surry Hills Library and community facility built in 1956 was a small and modest building.

Since then, the communities of Surry Hills has continuously changed. Different cultural groups and business sectors have ebbed and flowed in the area.

The need for a new community facility was recognised in 2004. We viewed this as an opportunity to deliver a new facility that reached high-level sustainability and design standards. In 2005, architecture firm FJMT, headed by Richard Francis-Jones, was awarded the project.

Community consultation contributed to the design concepts. In 2007 the old community centre was demolished to make way for an innovative hybrid building containing a new library, community centre and childcare facility.