UQ Duhig Central Library Refurbishment

Duhig North Building, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane

One of the first projects Wilson Architects undertook in designing contemporary libraries was the major refurbishment of the Duhig and Central libraries at UQ in 1997.  This project at the time radically re-imagined the services and range of study spaces of the two buildings to make a single Humanities Library to serve the shifting nature of tertiary education.

Revisiting the library after 23 years the new brief was to provide additional study space on the top floor of the old Central Library. After a short feasibility study it was recognised that if these spaces were brought back to the lower levels instead it would both better serve the student population and avoid costly fire upgrades.

The new design also created the opportunity to re-establish the original entry to the Robin Gibson 1973 Central Library. Designed in a brutalist style, the building forms part of a series of related built forms that sit in front of the heritage Forgan Smith Building including the UQ Art Museum and Biological Sciences. Consolidating the book collection to the upper levels has enabled the building to become much more porous and connected with the Campus at both its two lower ground levels. A two storey void connects these stories together both visually and physically as well as better enable a range of outdoor spaces to be linked to the Library and activate the ground floor. Refurbished interior spaces include a Café, meeting rooms, casual peer-to-peer learning spaces, social learning spaces and areas for quiet reflection. A colour pallet of UQ purple gives the refurbishment a vibrant and memorable interior environment.

Completed

2020

Project Value

$4.7M

Key Personnel

Hamilton Wilson, Phillip Lukin, Kevin Park, Maddie Zahos, Paul Newman, Laura Moffat, Lia Kim, Sophie Lorenz, John Harrison and Ilka Salisbury

Traditional Owners

Yuggera & Turrbal People