Lord Mayor opens the Surry Hills Library and Community Centre
13 June 2009

The Surry Hills Library and Community Centre was officially opened on Saturday 13 June by the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore MP.

Spanning four levels, the ‘hybrid’ centre provides a new library over two floors, a 26-place childcare centre, a small café, and flexible community meeting rooms including a large public meeting room and a commercial kitchen for cooking classes and functions. The adjacent road closure has also been refurbished to provide enhanced open space outside the facility.

The centre’s design is unique as it combines a distinctive built form with environmental function without highlighting or exposing those environmental initiatives. Instead, the multifunctional environmental systems are intrinsic to the very fabric of the building. In this way the building is a reflection of the next level of maturity in environmentally responsible design.

"We hope the that this building will be a starting point for the development of a green rating system for public buildings. It is an innovative example of design and sustainability options for other developments. We hope it will encourage developers to consider what they can achieve," said the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore MP. "We have raised the bar by merging complex environmentally sustainable design with the delivery of a useful community facility, which will serve Surry Hills well into the future."