The masterful restoration of the University of Adelaide’s Reading Room, overseen by Swanbury Penglase and Heritage SA, has unearthed a number of surprising hidden elements within the room, none more so than a flight of paper planes more than three decades old.
Some 61 paper planes were found at various locations of the Reading Room, which was initially designed by Walter Hervey Bagot, one of the founders of international practice Woods Bagot.
Affectionately coined ‘the Harry Potter room’ by students, the Reading Room serves as a location for silent study.
“The Barr Smith Library’s Reading Room restoration project required the removal of over 20,000 books from the shelves so that specialist cleaning of the ceiling and painting could occur,” says University Librarian Siân Woolcock.
“The walls and columns were repainted in heritage colours selected in consultation with architects Swanbury Penglase and Heritage SA.”
“The paper planes were a fun discovery. We always knew they were up there but could never reach them to find out just how many. They were found on the ledges and windowsills and there was even one lodged vertically in the ceiling plaster, which would have been a tough shot.”
The Library’s freestone portico doubles as an entry point to the reading room, which features four newly restored portraits of Thomas Elder Barr Smith, Lord Howard Florey, Sir Douglas Mawson, and Sir Mark Oliphant. The restoration of the works were undertaken by Artlab Australia.
Woolcock says she is delighted to see the restoration reach completion to coincide with a major milestone for the University.
“We’re so pleased this restoration has been completed in time for next year’s 150th anniversary of the University of Adelaide.”
