Hames Sharley is partnering with Danish design firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen to transform the existing Curtin University Library in Australia.

The TL Robertson Library Building is the oldest and largest building on Curtin’s Bentley campus and was identified as being in need of refurbishment to modernise the spaces and infrastructure to meet contemporary needs, with improved physical and visual access to the wider precinct.

The project comprises a complete upgrade of the services infrastructure and refurbishment of several floors. The works will be carried out while the library continues in operation throughout.

The project's goal was to address the significant existing deficiencies, and end-of-life status of building services infrastructure in the Library to comply with technical industry standards and operate with more sustainability, particularly given services currently cannot deliver on-demand and are at risk of imminent failure.

The TL Robertson Library Building is the oldest and largest building on Curtin’s Bentley campus and was identified as being in need of refurbishment to modernise the spaces and infrastructure to meet contemporary needs, with improved physical and visual access to the wider precinct.

In addition, the Library needs refurbishing to modernise the spaces to meet contemporary needs, with improved physical and visual access to the wider university central precinct.

At the centre of Western Australia’s largest university, the landmark library building will be transformed into an open, light-filled building to meet the needs of future users. The team aims to create a “living library” with new pathways for visual and physical connectivity throughout the building site.

The TL Robertson Library Building is the oldest and largest building on Curtin’s Bentley campus and was identified as being in need of refurbishment to modernise the spaces and infrastructure to meet contemporary needs, with improved physical and visual access to the wider precinct.

For the past 47 years the TL Robertson Library at Curtin University in Perth, Australia has stood as an iconic brutalist structure that welcomes two million visits annually by students, faculty and the greater Perth community. The library, built in 1972, was originally designed with little natural daylight in order to protect the thousands of books and other physical materials in its collection. The new approach will open the library to the green campus and the community. The design invites the landscape in through the use of timber and other natural materials. A palette of lightweight materials and elongated windows will support a new architectural expression and add contrast to the existing concrete and brick structure.

The TL Robertson Library will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2022, the year the project is scheduled to complete.