Marrickville Library

In the Australian suburb of Marrickville, the listed building of the former hospital was preserved and restored to now form part of the newly built library. This newly created library has been defined as multi-purpose community facility whose innovative design combines the most state-of-the-art technologies and sustainability.

To be able to execute this project, 54 round columns had to be built with different lengths reaching from 3 to 9.3 metres. Trimmed and round milled on a CNC-controlled machine installed in the Rubner factory, some 90% of these timber columns support the roof structure of the building - an oversized floating canopy roof inspired on the old hospital roof. Five additional timber columns simultaneously bear the load of one part of the roof and of the façade including the railings. These columns provide an open space feeling since the library’s main atrium, which allows to take a glance at the major areas in the newly installed three-storey building, hardly has any suspended ceilings.