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It is not unusual for renowned architects such as Andrew Andersons, the two-time winner of the Sulman award for public architecture, to update or extend a landmark project over their lifetimes.<\/p>\n
What was very unusual, said Andersons on Monday, is when the architect (him!) wanted to cut an enormous void in the floor of the original architect\u2019s 1988 work (him again!). This is what he did for the redesign of the State Library of NSW\u2019s Macquarie Street wing.<\/p>\n
The library will today unveil a $15 million glow-up by Andersons with Cullen Feng Architects. It was completed in seven months, in time for the library\u2019s 200th birthday next year.<\/p>\n
Visiting the site where NSW parliament\u2019s tennis courts once stood, the 83-year-old architect said he was happy with the outcome.<\/p>\n
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State Librarian Caroline Butler-Bowdon and award-winning architect Andrew Andersons take a sneak look at the Martin Sharp tapestry that has restored to its rightful place after a $15 million redesign.Credit: James Brickwood <\/p>\n
\u201cThe main reading room is a miracle of daylighting,\u201d he said, thanks to the new 55 square metre void that brings light to the lowest floor of Marie Bashir Reading Rooms, which are underground.<\/p>\n
Nearly every major art gallery and library, including the Art Gallery of NSW, the State Library of NSW and the National Library and the National Gallery of Australia, has benefited from Andersons\u2019 light touch \u2013 the introduction of daylight and views, some curves and other playful touches.<\/p>\n
State Librarian Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon said the upgraded reading rooms in the wing – that re-opens today at 9am – now matched the rest of the library in quality.<\/p>\n
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Into the void they looked.
\nAndrew Andersons and State Librarian Caroline Butler-Bowdon in the newly updated bottom floor of the Marie Bashir reading rooms. It now a huge void letting light into the underground space. Credit: James Brickwood<\/p>\n
Andersons replied: \u201cYou are not the poor cousin of the Australian Museum any more or the Art Gallery of NSW. I think you are ahead now, though, I shouldn\u2019t say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Standing next to a time capsule from 1988 that commemorated the wing\u2019s opening by Queen Elizabeth, Andersons said it was not unusual for him to go back to do additional work on a project over time.<\/p>\n
This time, though, he had to justify his proposal to create the large void \u2013 shaped a bit like the library\u2019s comma logo \u2013 to let light into the lowest floor of the reading rooms that he originally designed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see, I had to do the heritage impact statement on what this work does to a building I designed 40 years ago. Now that\u2019s really quite funny.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no trouble justifying it, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being the original architect had given him the confidence to take \u201cgreater risks to achieve stronger visual impact than others may have been prepared to do\u201d.<\/p>\n
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The newly updated entrance will restore Martin Sharp\u2019s Oz tapestry (commissioned for the 1988 building) to the main foyer.<\/p>\n
The update brought light to the reading rooms and colour to the walls, now decorated in brightly coloured timber slats that resemble the spines of books.<\/p>\n
Butler-Bowdon said seating in the reading room had increased 37 per cent to 659, and there were more study rooms, up from six to 21. Much of the original furniture had been retained, but updated.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur reading rooms are the absolute core of this institution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Unlike an art gallery, which the public may visit sparingly, Butler-Bowdon said the library had many visitors who came daily or three times a week. \u201cIt was a place to be alone but together.\u201d<\/p>\n