Melton Library

fjc were commissioned by the Shire of Melton (now Melton City Council) to deliver the new Melton Library and Learning Hub. The site located in the old township of Melton housed the outdated 1970s original municipal library and community hall. The brief was to provide a new contemporary library and community hub for the local community. Featuring a double height reading space, multiple community meeting, theatrette and multi-purpose training spaces, the project has a high environmental agenda and will provide a new central civic space for the people of Melton. Being located one street off Melton’s main street created a series of challenges to create a sense of place within the established township of Melton. This, coupled with the need for an appropriate identity for an important public building within the community, led to a design approach that maximised the street frontage as well as setting the building back off the street to allow for a new public realm to mitigate between the loading docks of the adjoining supermarket and the library entrance.

The timber was milled and fabricated locally, contributing to highly successful sustainability outcomes and in the creation of a unique sense of place for this important civic building. Timber was used in the structure, cladding, lining and window systems, which led to the project winning both the Australian Timber Design Award for Sustainability and the Intergrain Timber Award. This important piece of infrastructure has been designed to meet the latest standards in library design and has achieved 5 Star Green Star Design and As Built accreditation.

Explore the interiors and landscape of Melton Library.

Read more in Insights: IFLA LBES Mid-Year Seminar – Building Excellence: Global and Indigenous Trends in Library Design.