The façade was completed with APL Window Solutions’ thermally enhanced 168mm Structural Glaze curtain wall system. It replaced the library’s ageing, water-damaged glazing and was fabricated and installed by Vantage brand manufacturer Wight Aluminium.

The upgrade protects the library’s 140,000-item collection and historical archives and features design elements developed in collaboration with mana whenua. AGP supplied the curtain wall insulated glass units in Solux Ultra, with a grey-tint outer pane for optimum thermal performance. Selected panes incorporated cultural ceramic frit patterns, including Poutama.

Incorporating the hundreds of LED-tipped horizontal tubes required careful detailing of brackets and electrical cabling through the curtain wall’s split mullions. Within the mullions, bespoke brackets held the spigots supporting the 350mm-long light posts. Early contractor involvement between Edwards White Architects, Wight Aluminium and the lighting supplier enabled the detail to be prototyped, helping streamline production and installation.

The LED grid can be programmed for art displays in multiple colours and patterns. In contrast to this digital screen, a timber wall adjoining the curtain wall façade incorporates a Māori proverb that uses natural light to cast moving shadows across the building during the day. The library front thus references both analogue and digital forms of storytelling and knowledge.

AGP glass was also installed above the library entrance doors as part of an eye-catching sawtooth-shaped canopy in corten steel running the full length of the building.

The existing ground-floor doors and windows were retained, with remedial works carried out as part of the upgrade. The aluminium window systems were finished in Duratec Matt Flax Pod.

The designers for the $2.4m project were Edwards White Architects and the builder was Watts & Hughes.