Tūranga - Christchurch's world class library

The flagship for Christchurch City Libraries, Tūranga supports 19 community, digital and mobile libraries around the city. The ground floor provides an inviting space that links through to the neighboring performing arts precinct and convention centre.

A café, magazine lending and enticing technology exhibits are on display here. Up the wide, crisscrossing, timber-clad stairs, the first floor houses a vibrant children’s area, a 200-seat community arena, exhibition space, and areas for families and youth.

The top three floors house digital, specialist and print collections, and meeting and recreation spaces. The council opted to pursue five Green Star certification for the library. Achieving this is a rigorous process. Every step in the design and construction program requires consideration and measurement. And with robust seismic engineering, it is also a building to last – important for a city torn apart by natural disasters.

Sustainability Outcomes

• Building is wrapped in a high performance, low – E and argon filled double glazing reducing heat loss and summer heat gain.
• Lighting systems with extensive controls, daylight dimming and occupancy sensing.
• Automatic external solar control blinds significantly reducing the need for summer cooling.
• Water efficient sanitary fittings and fixtures.
• Responsibly sourced timber.
• During construction over 70% of building and demolition waste re-used or re-cycled.
• Reduced car parking spaces.
• Provision of end of trip cycling facilities for staff and cycle parking for visitors
• Energy modelling showed that Tūranga would use 72% less energy and emit 72% fewer GHG emissions than a comparable building.
• A water-sourced heat pump / chiller connected to artesian bores has an energy coefficient of 4.8 (480% efficient) compared with a typical air-source heat pump at 3.0 (300% efficient).
• Electrical sub-metering and energy monitoring in operation.
• Exhaust riser to reduce impact from equipment-related sources of internal pollutants on occupant health.
• Zero ozone-depletion potential (ODP) refrigerants and insulants.
• Low global-warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.
• Reduced peak storm water flows.
• Building has large dampeners to help absorb energy and prevent damage from earthquakes.