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The tight site has not constrained
the architecture; one sits well with
the other, reaching out with a
variety of public and semi-public
connections. There is a successful
balance between prescribed
space, and space which is able
to be appropriated by the
congregation or offered for public
use.
A major success is the soft wash
of daylight into the interiors
of the church and its narthex,
where a tall cross is sculpted in
light, forming a sign to the street
beyond. Often humble materials
are detailed and executed with
rigour. Generosity comes from the
tall soaring forms of the church
and the narthex, and the sculpted
voids connecting these spaces
to the lounge foyer below, where
one hopes the collection of comfy
old sofas will grow.
PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE AWARD
There are few contemporary
spaces for worship that convey
an appropriate sense of the
spiritual with architectural
distinction and a contemporary
stance. This project, replacing a
historic church destroyed by fire,
succeeds in this task; made in this
case even more difficult by the
tight site wedged between taller
heritage-listed buildings and one
of Sydney’s busiest streets.
Uniting a wide array of functions
for a diverse congregation, the
project provides not only the
church and its generous and
evocative narthex, but also a
landscaped courtyard and a
civic stair to the side street.
Teaching, office and meeting
rooms on the lower level offer
additional and more intimate
spaces for congregation. These
level changes are used to full
advantage to define the different
uses, and provide privacy and
security where needed.
Photography: John Gollings
St Barnabas Church
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt)
which are to be commended
here. In particular the analysis
of demolished materials and
their re-working into the project
represents not only an embodied
energy saving, but also underpins
a story of evolving community
identity.
The success of innovative and
lively sun shading is seen both
outside and in, where it effectively
modulates daylight to the tall
interior. A lithe and colourful riff
on the geometry of adjacent
precast panels, the façade screen
effectively bestows a new identity
to the Centre.
The Bankstown Library and
Knowledge Centre is a 21st
century library with all the public
dignity of the grand reading
rooms of the past, creating a
community hub for the city’s civic
precinct. A transparent addition
to the precast concrete of the
1970’s Bankstown Town Hall, the
Library contains a sequence of
public areas contained within
a single ‘great room’. From the
large atrium to the intimacy of
the stacks and reading nooks,
here the reader can be alone or
together, but always a part of the
collective.
The architect’s decision to
adaptively re-use a substantial
portion of the original Town Hall
is at the heart of a significant
number of sustainable design
initiatives. However whilst energy
and water saving measures
are increasingly required of
our buildings as a baseline, it is
the ‘place’-specific measures
Photography: Christian Mushenko
Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt)
PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE
COMMENDATION
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