Jeremy and I took a quick wander through the recently opened Surry Hills Library on Crown Street by FJMT. Like many of FJMT’s buildings this is a highly detailed timber and glass number with what I am told is an extraordinary cost per square metre put towards achieving ‘benchmark’ energy credentials.

And while on first impressions I question whether the building makes the best library, in the sense that a library might be a point in space that celebrates the exchange of knowledge through repositories of information; books, computers, meeting tables, people (the decision to place the public access computer terminals - surely the heart of a contemporary library, and on the day we were there, the busiest space - in an impossibly skinny room in the deepest recess of the library is particularly odd)

One standout, is the signage by design consultancy Collider and architects Akin. The signage is integrated neatly into the architecture of the building; the entry signage in black lettering leans out from the surface of the black precast walls and internally, wayfinding signage twists within the framework set up by the terracotta wall tiles. This is some pretty brave signage for the City of Sydney to take on given the subtlety of the effect and the range of visitors

The NSW Australian Institute of Architects Awards were held last night at the Hilton and I am happy to report that several of SC’s buddies took out the top awards for residential and public buildings.

Neeson Murcutt were awarded their second Wilkinson Award for the Whale Beach House. I have only driven by this one while it was under construction, but it seemed extremely tightly detailed even at that stage. Although they must be getting tired the press’ inability to cover their projects without reference to the celebrity component of their name…

Candalepas Architects were awarded the Sulman Prize for Public Buildings for the All Saints Primary School in Belrose which continues their ongoing study of concrete blade walls and timber screens.

And I recommend you check out James Stockwell’s Snowy Mountains House which was runner up in the residential field. From the images available on his website it looks very interesting indeed.

[Update!]

Also, I did not see at first that Welsh+Major were awarded that Greenway Award for Heritage Architecture for the Fitzroy Terrace. I visited this house for a review in the current issue of Architectural Review Australia and it is a great project that retains exposes much of the existing terraces’ existing structure.

Other winners; Colins and Turner won the Multiple Housing Award for their duplex porject at Boomerang Beach, and Lahz Nimmo won a couple of awards for the Armory Cafe.

(photographer: Richard Glover)

Photographs of buildings by Gehry, Sejima and Moneo taken on a recent visit to the Novartis campus in Basel. The campus is undergoing an extensive redevelopment with projects by Ando, Taniguchi, Maki, Chipperfield, Siza, Nouvel, Souto de Moura and Piano under construction.