Fresh from receiving a 2014 Victorian Architecture Award and an Intergrain Timber Vision Award, FJMT’s Melton Library and Learning Hub has now collected an International Design… Is award.

Joining four other global winners and one people’s choice winner, the Library and Learning Hub won in the Government/Civic category.

Design…Is is sponsored by commercial flooring company, Shaw Contract Group (SCG), and requires that all entries emphasise a flooring design that utilises a product from the company’s range.

According to SCG Australia General Manager, Paul McCosker, FJMT’s win is a wonderful achievement for Australian design. He says the awards honour architecture and design firms from around the globe that are changing the idea of ‘design’.

The winning Melbourne design firm competed in a pool of 40 shortlisted nominations selected from 356 entries received from 25 countries; this is only the second time in nine years of the Design Is...Awards program that an Australian project has won a global award.

FJMT Melbourne Principal Geoff Croker said the win was a wonderful acknowledgement of a project both the FJMT team and the City of Melton are proud of, explaining that the primary objective at the outset of the project was to deliver a building that wasn’t just a traditional storage place for books but a destination that would revitalise and re-energise the community.

Since opening over a year ago the facility has enjoyed a huge increase in membership and has also set the benchmark for sustainable library design in Australia. The Melton Library and Learning Hub is the first library in Australia to be awarded a 5 Star Green Star - Public Building Design rating by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

The winners were chosen by a global panel of judges consisting of some of the most profound voices in global architecture. The judges hailed FJMT’s entry as truly successful, and made special mention of the overall design and the materials used including the lights and carpet.

The practice’s win will see two team members attend a four-day celebratory trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Chicago in the USA.

Joining Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp as global winners are:

Hickok Cole Architects | Washington, DC
Project: NPR | Washington, DC

Studio Groen+Schild BV | Deventer, The Netherlands
Project: TenneT Headquarters | Arnhem, The Netherlands

ZGF Architects LLP | Seattle, WA
Project: Federal Center South Building 1202 | Seattle, WA

Nikken Sekkei Ltd | Tokyo, Japan
Project: JOSAI University Educational Corporation, Tokyo Kioicho Campus Building 3 |
Tokyo, Japan

RMTA, LLC | Kansas City, MO
Project: Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator | Kansas City, MO

In addition to the trip to the USA, Design Is...Award Global winners will receive $2,000 to donate to the school or organisation of their choice.

Related:

Learned architecture: Australia’s best new libraries for 2014

Australian library wins international Public Library of the Year Award 2014

Images: Trevor Mein.

Nathan Johnson

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