Project overview

‘The Hub’, located within the heart of the existing Caboolture Town Square required a community-based facility incorporating a Library, Art Gallery and Learning Centre to meet the needs of one of the fastest growing regions within South East Queensland.

The vision for the Caboolture Hub has been to create a place for people to interact, learn and be entertained in an uplifting environment with memorable spaces that would remain enduring. Comprising a modern public library, regional gallery, learning centre and cafe alongside the Caboolture Town Square, the building provides a community facility designed to offer the people of Caboolture a centre for local culture, art, history, and education. The three key components of the facility will enable the city to attract larger art exhibitions through its meeting of the necessary AAA rating – by intrinsically linking the gallery and library, the Council is able to promote the region as a Centre of Art and Culture.

The library has been designed to accommodate a diverse range of users from families with young children through to pensioners residing within the area. The interior space of the central library maximises the use of natural light achieved through large windows and double storey volumes, manipulating the scale of the building to suit the function of the spaces inside. Movement is intended to be a visceral experience, with a series of stairs, balconies, voids, and views establishing a level of transparency to reinforce the importance of being visible in the public realm.

Specialised spaces have been created to allow a multitude of activities both noisy and quiet – This was a critical element of the design seen at providing the necessary flexibility to meet the mix of activities associated with a community facility. The ambiguity of space within the building as a whole allows for the merging of activities between all three elements of the building. This fluid use of space provides the community with greater freedom of choice in how they use and move throughout the centre. The diversity of use extends beyond the defined space of the building by way of a civic-scaled colonnade linking the building to each side of the city. The engagement of the building to the wider precinct has established a stronger civic presence for the town square. The opportunity for internal activity to spill to the outside is afforded by way of an internal amphitheatre that can reveal itself to an outside plaza and bring the inside world to the public domain.

The design has emphasised the value of contemporary and considered regional facilities that explore the same level of design integrity to that applied in larger cities. It has provided a sense of place and retained a presence that captures the growing identity of Caboolture as a regional centre, as part of the state. The respect shown is captured in the understanding that this building is for and of Caboolture.