Hervey Bay Library

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Positioned where Main Street meets the Mary to Bay Rail Trail, the new library and administration precinct is conceived as a civic heart for Hervey Bay, designed to belong to the whole community. Working in collaboration with architects Cottee Parker, Arcadia’s concept links the building to its surrounds through flexible outdoor rooms: an entry lawn for markets and everyday gathering, a shaded rainforest canopy for ground-level events, and terraces rising to a civic stair. Central to the design is an early commitment to walking together with the Butchulla community, working with Blaklash Creative and BNTAC to ensure the landscape reflects First Nations knowledge holders’ connection to Country, rather than treating culture as decoration.

Planting favours the coastal rainforest character of the Fraser Coast, with Livistona australis, Waterhousia floribunda, Agathis robusta, native fig and Pandanus tectorius forming a layered canopy over Lomandra, Leptospermum and dune species such as Carpobrotus glaucescens. Landform responds to the region’s flooding and stormwater realities, turning technical constraints into civic experience through mounded turf terraces, a considered water strategy, and micro-climates created by built form and vegetation together. The result is a landscape meant to genuinely enrich the Hervey Bay community, welcoming to all ages, and forging a lasting connection between the building, its people and Country.