Christchurch Central Library in New Zealand reconstructed with a luminous perforated aluminium cover

The Christchurch Central Library in New Zealand, which was closed to the public in 2011 after it was destroyed by Christchurch earthquake and demolished later, has been re-constructed with a new design and architecture. The new Central Library, completed in October, titled Turanga, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects features a luminous perforated aluminium cover that wraps a series of seismically engineered unitized curtain wall.

The 102,000-square-foot five stories library rests on top of a rectangular stone-clad podium detailed with expansive representations of Māori artwork.

The principal facade element is a wedge-shaped aluminium perforated panel system that is modelled on the native evergreen species used for traditional Māori textiles. Each panel is approximately a standard height of just under five feet, with varying widths. The design team placed an open joint between each story of perforated panels to allow for differential movement during a seismic event.

Local fabricator of architectural metalwork, Metal Concepts has supplied the golden veil that courses across the façade. The aluminium sheets were pre-anodized to ensure colour consistency. Then the sheets were cut to size, perforated, and folded into their respective shapes. After that the panels were connected to the curtainwall assembly.

The perforations of the aluminium panels follow an approximately 2.5-square-inch triangular grid. The perforations serve two purposes; accentuating the depth and texture of the façade, as the luminosity of the aluminium panels intensifies at sunset and filtering light through the glass curtain wall.

The design team has worked in collaboration with Lewis Bradford Consulting Engineers and kept in mind the durability factor during a future seismic event, while designing the facade and structural systems. According to the architects, they have designed a series of flexible concrete walls that shift during earthquake accelerations as the seismic force-resisting system for the building.