Due to an undersupply of Primary Medical services in the Gonville area, a large dormitory suburb in Whanganui, the Whanganui Regional Primary Health Organisation sought to establish a medical centre in Gonville.

Gonville had lost its Community Hall and other similar community amenities. With the WRPHO we held public consultation meetings.  The outcome of these meeting was to group other functions with the Medical Centre. One of these is an outpost of the City Library.  It is known as the Gonville Library and Café, to have its own identity.

The concept for the library was `the living room of the suburb’.  That led to consideration of how parents and children could use the space differently but concurrently. There is a small café service.  There are desktop computers with internet connection.  There is a large table where users can sit and read, even a broadsheet newspaper.  There are sofas. There is a community room accessible from the library that is fully booked with knitting groups and the like.

We developed a ceiling element to reference a mythical taniwha (a powerful water spirit) that lives under the Gonville swamp.  This locates the library in its place and cultural context.

We designed the full fitout of the space.

We are very proud that the Gonville Library is now referred to as `the Heart of Gonville’. It was awarded an Te Kahui Whaihanga NZIA Resene Local Award in the Western Branch in 2010 for Commercial Architecture.