Henderson Library | Waitākere

The transfer of ownership of 1 Ratanui St to Waitakere City Council provided an opportunity to re-instate and expand the frontage of the library and plaza ensuring better visibility and access. The collaborative redesign of Ratanui Street’s southern library plaza delivers a new Waitakere Central Library, a Citizens Advice Bureau, Unitec facilities, a car parking building, a new service lane, a new pedestrian lane (Waitakere Lane) and three new out door public plazas. The project aspires:

- to improve visibility into the library plaza by re-organising structural and furniture elements within the space;

- to provide an optimum number of car park spaces within the site;

- to improve accessibility within the library complex; and

- to consider and provide for the possibility of adjacent commercial neighbours opening out onto the service land and plaza spaces.

SUSTAINABILITY

This project aligns with Waitakere City Council’s values, particularly its emerging identity as Eco City. Specifically this project responds directly to WCC’s aim to protect stream health within the city’s green network. In response to this aim, a key factor contributing to the composition of this project’s landscape is Water Sensitive Urban Design, along with site circulation and architectural geometries, WSUD components express form and drive the conceptual thinking. Storm water run off is collected and filtered in the numerous rain-gardens that articulate the site’s vehicle and pedestrian routes. These gardens are specifically designed to detain and filter stormwater using native reed species that are adapted to both dry and wet conditions.

INNOVATION

New furniture elements are positioned in close proximity to the new buildings to promote the integration of external spaces with interior layouts and themes. Paving, seating and planting along with commissioned artworks are composed to provide high visual and ecological amenity throughout the site for both pedestrians and motorists. The furniture and paving palette employed on this project forms the basis of Waitakere’s citywide urban furniture strategy. This strategy has since been used city-wide on numerous new urban projects within the Waitakere region.