The Centre has been designed to achieve excellence in sustainable design and set new high standards in environmental performance for multi-purpose public buildings. [It] will be a starting point for the development of a green rating system for public buildings… [and] an innovative example of design and sustainable design possibilities.
— Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP

The new Surry Hills Library and Community Centre provides specific services tailored to the needs of the local community and includes a local library, community centre and child care centre.

The complex accommodates a diverse library borrowing collection of approximately 30,000 items, a community centre comprising a flexible function facility for 100 people and community meeting rooms, and a child care centre accommodating 26 children. It establishes a contemporary sense of place creating an inviting public facility with a solid connection to its urban setting. The architecture is conceived using simple forms and materials, each a response to the urban framework (proportion and scale) while symbiotic to the functional, pragmatic and environmental control requirements.