AARL

Special feature

Challenge, stimulation and ultimate fulfilment: the development of the information services building at the University of Otago 1993-2002

Michael Wooliscroft

Abstract: This article focuses on the planning for the Information Services Building (ISB) at the University of Otago. The ISB houses the Central Library and a range of student services. The university has created a library-plus or a more-than-library which is already achieving international renown with study parties from several continents.

This account presents two intertwined themes. One concerns the planning process: identification of the need, deciding how to address it, obtaining the university's support and progress towards a successful realisation. The other theme describes the development of a new vision of academic library service, exploiting new digital resources alongside strong print collections (including heritage ones) and integration with other student services.

Library staff realise that they are now into a new phase of the development, taking advantage of the functionally efficient, comfortable and attractive new spaces in order to develop further the synergies possible with staff of other units providing student services within the ISB.

Identifying the need - the 1992 library review

The Report of the 1992 University of Otago Library Review Panel[1] stated that there were significant shortfalls in library accommodation across the whole university library system - a decentralised but centrally managed library with six branches. For instance, the Central Library building (opened in 1965) was designed to accommodate 250 000 volumes and 500 reader places. By 1991 it held more than 500 000 volumes and 908 reader places. Each reader place was, on average, an inadequate 1.8m².[2] Width of aisles averaged 0.8m but a few aisles were a barely accessible 0.65m.

The Panel's report urged that library space increase particularly to cater for reader places and housing the collection, including some adjacent storage for lesser used stock. The external assessor, Harrison Bryan, formerly of the University of Sydney and the National Library of Australia, found the working conditions in many parts of the library appalling.

Identifying the need - the library accommodation program

While it was no surprise to library staff and users that the library had not fared well in terms of capital works developments over recent years the purported extent of the shortfall impressed even those who were not the usual allies of the library. Whether the solution lay in extension or replacement needed to be determined following a review as to the anticipated role of the academic library taking into account changes in scholarly communication. Fundamental questions were asked. Would we need new library buildings? Should existing premises be substantially redesigned but not increased in space? Did the university need a library at all if digitised information from the web could be delivered into student flats and onto staff desktops? These and other questions were raised in many fora. It was clear that the university librarian needed to address the whole range of options.[3] Other issues were addressed in various reports I wrote for the university.

The revision of the library's Accommodation Programme was completed at the beginning of 1993 and covered a 15 year period.[4] The Programme identified the growth needs of the whole library system - collection, study places and staffing in accordance with a formula established by my predecessor.

The Programme confirmed major existing shortfalls of space in four library branches. These shortfalls were of the order of: Hocken Library 42.4%, Law Library 41.3%, Central Library 39.3%, Science Library 36.6%. The Medical Library had a modest shortfall of 6.4% and the Dental Library was the only one with surplus space.

Identifying the need - the new vice-chancellor

A new vice-chancellor, Dr Graeme Fogelberg, was appointed from outside the university, taking up his duties in January 1994. During his interview process he had visited branches of the library and was appalled at the generally shabby conditions and crowded nature especially that of the Central Library. He undertook to identify funding to achieve a satisfactory result.

In order to test the library's capacity to exploit further the developing information technologies and to give some external verification of the library's assertions relating to space shortages the Vice-Chancellor quickly instituted a sequential review.

Endorsing the need and some changes in policy - the sequential library review

The report of the 1994 Sequential Review[5] confirmed the need for considerable additional space but suggested that a larger percentage of lesser-used stock should be transferred to storage than had been customary at Otago. Most importantly it suggested a capping of collection sizes in the open access branches on campus.

A cost-benefit analysis of the two scenarios of providing for continuing collection growth on campus and of allowing such growth to take place just off campus in a lower-cost building clearly showed that financially we could house lesser-used elements of the collection more cheaply just off campus, especially when opportunity costs were taken into account.

The library already had fine accommodation for lesser-used print volumes only one and a half city blocks away from the Central Library. It was staffed for core hours. A reading room was provided along with open access to most of the collection. Delivery was provided within 24 hours to any unit on campus for monographs and scanned copies of periodical articles were delivered to users' desktops. Concerns of some academic staff regarding the transfer of further material to a 'storage' facility were eased by the speed of delivery, the generally open access and the close proximity to the campus.

The library agreed to adopt as policy steady-state print collections in its on-campus branches. Another building proximate to the first'storage' building, then used for Hocken Library archives and photographs, was identified to house growth of the print collections by transfer of lesser-used volumes. First, new space had to be found for the Hocken Library.

No longer would collection growth put pressure on the quantity and size of reader places. If the student population grew, the collection size in the main campus branches could be reduced further with more lesser-used material being transferred to nearby storage as the library increased the number of reader places to maintain the reviewer's target of one reader place for every five Equivalent Full Time Student (EFTS). The library and the student body were not happy with this seating ratio.[6] The library had previously planned for one reader place for every four EFTS (the earlier University Grants Committee formula) across the whole library system. The student body argued for one reader place for every three EFTS.

Part of the library's successful argument about the ratio of reader places related to the need to enable students to work in the library rather than in their often cramped and cold (in winter) student flats. In the end, taking into account local factors and being given evidence of leading practice elsewhere,[7] the university accepted the library's recommended ratio of one reader place for every four EFTS. Occupancy levels since the building was completed certainly support this, for they are high even at non-peak periods of semester.[8]

At an early stage (1993) we considered centralising all six branches of the university library in order to free up space to allow academic departments to expand. It was quickly apparent that although the project was to be developed on a central site which would be pivotal to such a composite project there were two overwhelming reasons why this should not proceed. The first reason related to the disadvantages which would arise from centralising a decentralised but centrally managed library system thus losing the close physical, functional and social connections which exist between each of the branch libraries and their core groups of users.[9] The second reason was that the university, without being assured of steadily increasing EFTS, could not risk committing itself to such large capital expenditure.

Planning for collection size

The Central Library provides principally for the needs of Humanities who are the major library users throughout the system and accounted for 61% (1996)[10] of the circulation from that branch. It is also the library of first resort for Commerce staff and students. Patterns of usage indicate that some commerce subjects have a close affinity with the social sciences merging into the humanities.

We needed to be conscious of the general 'academic/educational' quality of the collection. With the tightness of space in the old building in 1994, the library was obliged to weed to storage at a rate which could quickly result in the creation of a largely undergraduate collection with little chance of exposing users to wider resources. Some postgraduate students and staff were already commenting that the Central Library was becoming an 'information supermarket' where one made quick trips for bites of information. They considered the extreme overcrowding as working against the traditional values of academic libraries which encourage the serendipitous finding of research material on shelves and scholarly reflection within the library.

It was agreed that the Central, Hocken and Law Libraries should be encouraging the appreciation of the print collection. Consequently we determined that 450 000 print volumes was the minimum we should be planning to house in the new Central Library. This meant that over 20% of stock in the humanities subject areas would be in storage at the time of opening of the new building with this proportion steadily increasing over time as the collection grew.[11]

The library now uses two warehouse buildings in close proximity for this purpose. The university plans to purchase the property between these two buildings to link the two much more cheaply than it would cost for building on campus and in this way cope with the growth of the collection for many years.

Commitment to action - the vice-chancellor

The vice-chancellor was now ready to act decisively and make the improvement in library accommodation the highest priority in the university's capital works program. He readily gained the University Council's support for this. He also supported the need for a paradigm shift to re-engineer library and information services at Otago for which the building would be a major (but not the sole) enabler. A particular goal would be to improve study conditions for students in an IT-rich environment.

Commitment to action - not just the central library

While it is the new Central Library within the Information Services Building which has captured most attention since 2000, this development is the third - though largest - of a program of library capital works expansion which has taken place since 1996. As noted above, the Library Accommodation Programme 1993-2008 identified severe shortfalls in space in four branches.

While in theory the shortfall was considerable in the Law Library, in practice the pressures it encountered were not as great as in the other units. Also, the Law Library was in the middle of a multi-storied building in reasonably new and well-maintained space with little opportunity for expansion until additional space could be found for the Faculty of Law within which it was physically embedded.

Since its establishment in 1978 the Science Library has been in a building originally planned for sciences laboratories. That library was, by the mid-1990s, compressed and the building poorly maintained. The ground floor provided only for a lending services desk, reserve collection and copying facilities. We wished to expand within the building to double the ground-floor space and to introduce some of the design concepts and functionality which might well be developed in the main building project. We wanted to create a design'signature' which would help users to identify that they were in the same library system whichever branch they went into.

The Hocken Library, the university's major heritage collection with particular strengths in New Zealand and early Australia, had for some years been in split accommodation. Archives, manuscripts and photographs were housed in a building one and a half city blocks from the campus. The print and paintings collections were housed in a landmark building which was being increasingly built-out on campus. This factor was particularly of concern because the original Hocken collection was left in trust for the people of New Zealand. Although it is the university's most substantial and prestigious research collection it is also a public library. The reduced visibility of the Hocken Library and the increased student population was proving increasingly daunting to many of its external users. Space needs for all but the pictorial collections had become critical. Reader accommodation was cramped.

At first it had been planned that the Hocken Library might be re-housed along with the Central Library within the Information Services Building. Then a cheese factory adjacent to campus came up for sale. It was the perfect size to allow for ten to twenty years growth in the Hocken Library collection and services. The prominent situation on a major avenue connecting with several other heritage institutions in Dunedin was another plus. These factors combined with the modest costs of conversion meant that the success of the Hocken Library development was assured.

The virtues of the chosen site

Three alternative sites within a couple of city blocks were investigated for the Information Services Building but it was soon clear that only one could satisfy all the needs of the various stakeholders. It was determined that the Central Library should be rebuilt on its existing site, but with a footprint more than twice that of the existing building. There were immediately obvious challenges of maintaining quality services (particularly good study conditions) in the rump of a building during the period of construction. This was especially so during the first two months when one third of the old building would be demolished to allow for new construction to take place on the other side of a light temporary wall.

However, there were compelling advantages of this site which overrode the disadvantages. These were: the centrality of the site on the campus overall, its proximity to the University Union (the social centre of the campus for students), its close proximity to core groups of users in the humanities and commerce who were largely housed in buildings close by, and its high profile on the corner of a major through-way (part of State Highway One). Equally important was the ability to construct a large building on this site. As much as four or five stories in parts would have been appropriate according to a consultant's building-mass study report.

Extend or build anew

Various alternatives were considered in terms of extending the existing Central Library or building anew. Through developing the vision, however, it was realised that an extension of the current Central Library space over an immediately proximate carpark and lawn could provide the additional space which the university had accepted was necessary. However, the original building had major design flaws impacting on the optimal functional efficiency of operations and services. Two of these were a large central courtyard and some very narrow perimeter sections of building which inhibited replanning. In addition, extensive spalling of the exterior concrete meant that a re-cladding operation costing several million dollars would be necessary if the original building skin was to remain even in the short term. Initial planning suggested that an entirely new building would provide the only satisfactory means of realising the vision being developed by the working party following a series of meetings with focus groups.

What sort of building?

Clearly this would provide an outstanding opportunity for the university to acknowledge publicly the high value that it places on access to information and the importance of the library's role as a repository of knowledge. In addition, it was a splendid opportunity to give the university a clear marketing advantage over other competing New Zealand universities.

We wanted the building to:

• reflect a new image for libraries. We wanted it to be a 'more than' building to house the library
• assist in positioning the library to meet the challenges of the significant changes in scholarly communication
• assist us to take advantage of burgeoning IT developments facilitating access to information and knowledge appearing in digital form, and
• be housed proximate to other IT and student services, to encourage greater collaboration and derive optimal benefit from the synergies created.

We saw an opportunity to provide an environment to assist in re-grouping and even de-grouping of services and operations and to encourage more open-plan work areas to assist in maintaining and enhancing a culture of teamwork and even greater collaboration than had been the case formerly.

Traditional academic library buildings have tended to be rather bland if solid architecturally and we were determined on a building which would convey a sense of excitement that one is entering a gateway to the world of information and knowledge (not only to resources housed within but also providing access to resources beyond the walls of the library). We wanted the new building to provide an environment which would enhance existing library services and ease the incorporation of new ones. We also wished to foster intellectual interchange among students and between students and staff.[12]

Project management - the external contribution

Early in 1995, OCTA Associates Ltd were 'engaged as project management consultants to assist the university's facilities management staff with the co-ordination, planning, programming and implementation of the Project'.[13 ] OCTA were chosen based on their proven experience in establishing strategies that were successful in coping with visionary projects and delivering them on time and within budget. As well, their earlier work with the National Library of New Zealand and the Dunedin Public Library gave them a sound understanding of library culture and purpose. They valued libraries and their role in supporting and advancing society, economy, education and culture. Their commitment to value engineering and their openness to innovative solutions was of considerable assistance to the Working Party.

Search for examples of best academic library building planning

In 1994/95 the professional literature in architecture and librarianship was searched in order to identify recent library buildings housing leading-edge services which appeared to be relevant to Otago. While there were examples across the western world which appeared as though they might offer useful models there was a chain in the United States of America from the west to east coasts which seemed worthy of closer examination.

The visit methodology proceeded by way of the following steps:

• identification of suitable sites through literature and internet searches
• contact was made with sites through the us information service and various university channels
• development of a questionnaire for a structured interview process which was sent to each site in advance to assist their preparation for our visits. This questionnaire examined their vision, the planning process, the relationship with their design consultant, and the degree of success in meeting their objectives
• benchmark analysis carried out on Otago's Central Library using the same questionnaire, and
• site visits and interviews undertaken with key people including librarians, IT staff and design consultants, and inspection of facilities including those under construction.[14]

Engendering commitment and gathering opinions at home

For the month prior to the study tour, the Information Services Building Working Party made presentations to a variety of groups, among them: the Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Group (the senior management group in the university), senior staff of the Division of Information Services, the Otago University Students Association, clusters of staff from the four academic divisions, and University Council members. We ensured that minority groups with special needs were represented.

The general trends in librarianship with the move from ownership to access were set out. Potential candidates for tenancy were identified along with the proposed critical success factors of such a project, and a list of 'givens'.

The critical success factors identified were that the building should:

• be flexible in use, therefore intensively wired
• absorb changing technology
• provide attractive spaces to meet and work, and
• accommodate both the present and the future.[15]

The 'givens' were:

• we were planning to accommodate more than just a traditional library
• we were planning an IT-sophisticated building in function and image yet one which would also be welcoming to users
• the university library system would remain decentralised to the extent that it was already
• we should design to provide maximum flexibility and enhanced power, data and communications distribution throughout the building without sacrificing the ambience of an inviting environment. We wanted a good reader environment which captured some of the excitement of the new technology
• the larger part of the long-term growth in the collection would be coped with by the new storage strategy
• the library would remain a key service point for students on campus
• experience elsewhere was showing us that in heavily IT-focused libraries/information services increases in activity would be marked
• there would be a need for other library accommodation to be progressed in parallel with the major part of the redevelopment, and
• the role of the reader services librarian was changing to include a significant teaching component and to act as a navigator to information and knowledge.[16]

Participants in each of the groups were then asked to respond to a number of questions. The workshops were a vital part of gaining acceptance of the need for the project across the campus and of giving people an opportunity to feel that their views had been taken into account.

We stressed this development was a whole-of-university development with the capacity to transform the image of Otago by reinvigorating the campus as well as building a fine new library and creating a sense of place.

We decided to engage design consultants on a 'master plan' basis to consider the replacement housing for the library and associated student information services not in isolation but as an intrinsic part of a wider plan. This included the University Union building (housing student social activities), the nearby student pubs, the adjacent arts and commerce buildings and the two other tertiary institutions nearby. The old Central Library building always presented its 'back-side' to Albany Street and this was something to which a new design should provide a corrective. The curve in the Water of the Leith which winds through the campus would ultimately be reflected in the interior of the building by the sweep of the curved Oamaru stone wall. We studied the walking patterns of students and staff on campus and decided to incorporate their desired tracks into the planning of the campus proximate to and within the new building. Above all, we aimed to enhance the character of the campus experience.[17]

A study tour

In May 1995 the director of Information Services, the university librarian and the staff architect visited eleven libraries in the United States. We wanted to identify and analyse key design elements relevant to Otago's project. We were interested as much in the planning process as in the accomplished results, and we wanted to take a snapshot of the way libraries were taking advantage of IT and refining existing structures to assist optimal outcomes.

Of the eleven sites selected, six buildings were completed and open, four were still under construction and one site had been involved in thorough planning for some years but no sod was turned. Most were academic libraries but we also visited the San Francisco Public Library (under construction at the time) and MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) recently opened in San Francisco.

We looked for libraries that were really forward thinking and had, as a result of that thinking, produced advanced and exciting buildings. By and large we failed to find them on that first study tour. New thinking at the planning stages rarely resulted in concrete evidence of a new manner of providing services. What we saw was mostly traditional dressed as new.

While the study tour did not reveal examples which gave obvious answers in entirety for Otago it gave plenty of ideas as to what could be achieved in a variety of ways. Although we found no especially inspirational designs we identified a variety of features which appeared to assist good functionality. At each university visited the fundamental view was that only libraries provided optimal study environments.

The library which provided most stimulation on that tour was the Learning Centre at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. The innovative director of libraries, Charlene Hurt, was a leader in embracing a new vision. The new library, then at an advanced stage of construction, was intimately associated with a wide range of student services with wonderful opportunities for synergies enhanced by the open internal plan even though the building's rich functionality was not obvious from the exterior.[18]

Project management - the process within

A large quantity of data needed to be gathered relating to operations, services and staff who were candidates for occupying the new building. The library received additional staffing assistance to help cope with the project. From August 1995 the collection management librarian was seconded to the position of client project manager for a period of one year and provided with 0.5 FTE support staff to enable her to be diverted from some of her regular responsibilities.

Her role extended beyond the library to engage with all potential tenants, gathering data and testing it to ensure that requests were reasonable and that everyone was planning from a common base. Particularly important at this stage was not only the data as to space required but also relationships. Who was desirably close to whom? Who needed to be close to someone else? What were the optimal work-flows? We were determined not simply to replicate current patterns but move instead to best practice in an ideal environment.

Also identified and tested at this stage was classifying needs in terms of essential immediate needs, those two years out and those 10 years out and then looking at the same groupings for desirable needs.

The secondment of a permanent staff member to a role such as this was a first for the university, and although it has not been repeated it is fair to state that the ISB planning was the most ambitious of any of the university's building projects and clearly warranted this kind of investment.

Funding for the role of ISB client project manager ceased at the end of 1996. This was when the space planning needs and relationships work was completed. The Central Library part of the project went into a hiatus so that the funding available could be directed to allow the Hocken Library development to proceed. This meant that the Hocken archives and photographs would be able to move into the new Hocken Library building thus providing displacement space for lesser used stock to move from the old Central Library building. The year spent on further refining our thinking in relation to the Central Library and associated student services was very beneficial.

When the ISB project got under way again the circumstances of the collection management librarian had changed with the amalgamation of the two technical services departments.[19] Work associated with project planning was absorbed by others in the library without additional assistance for two years before two other colleagues, the lending services librarian and the support services manager worked in tandem to excellent effect with diverse and heavy additional project planning responsibilities added to their regular work and with a salary supplementation.

Preparing staff to cope with change

It was already clear that a huge, visionary and enduring project such as we were embarking on would require considerable changes in the way many colleagues worked. We recognised that many would be participating in the planning process and coping with some of the planning decisions which would not always be to their liking. We also wanted colleagues to be contributing fully to new ways of offering services.

The library at the end of 1995 engaged an external consultant to facilitate a series of workshops and seminars. All staff who would be affected by these changes and be a part of the planning process either actively or by responding to suggested changes were included. These seminars were of major benefit in gearing staff up to participate in the planning and change processes and to feel valued. They also gave the change-leaders guidelines on best practice in order to minimise negative consequences.[20]

Priorities for inclusion in the new library

In October 1995 the Working Party determined on the priority objectives which would be housed within the project. It reported to the Campus Development Committee of the University Council:

In the view of the Working Party the building will be regarded as a focus for staff/student interaction and a showcase for excellence in the University. In so far as budgets permit, the project should include the following services, either centralised or distributed in order of priority.

• The University primary print (books and periodicals) collection
• Study space - individual and group
• Information access
• Student services
• Information technology support
• Education teaching technology support
• Advice on learning
• Retail facilities (eg computer and software sales)

and noted that in a design sense the 'project would include linkages to adjacent buildings'.

It may be interesting to some that the housing of the primary print collection came first in the order of priorities when we were planning a building for the start of the twenty-first century. Yet all members regarded this as the top priority since the collection was still the basis for offering the rest of the library services and if the collection was not to be housed in the new library building then it could hardly be a library. Two or three times in the life of the project the priority ranking for what the building would contain was repeated. Each time we arrived at the same order of priorities.

The vision statement

In January 1996 a Vision Statement for the project was completed, drawing on discussions with the various focus groups and what had been seen on the study tour. This two-page document set out some key statements relating to the building and the services to be offered from within it and expressed the design parameters which have been discussed above.[21]

We looked for building features that would provide functional efficiencies, flexibility, a welcoming environment comfortable to be in and of a human scale. One feature of many of the libraries we saw in the United States which we thought desirable for Otago was an atrium to bring sunlight down into the centre of a multi-story building with an footprint the size of a football ground.

Built on a major campus corner with a high public profile, with a State highway on the western boundary, we wanted the purpose of the building to be proclaimed to passers by. And so we wanted a transparent envelope, especially on the two street frontages, so that members of the public could see students studying. This was a rare opportunity for until now the external community had seen students mostly at play.

We wanted the building to be readily accessed and for its services to be clearly evident by spaces merging one into the other. We planned for two library entrance/exits even though the technology wasn't available to manage this without closely proximate staffing. There are five significant public entrances into the building for we wanted to encourage people into the building and then divert them with a range of activities so that they would be encouraged to stay.

Alone among New Zealand's academic libraries, we wanted to provide for a significant sociable element within the building encouraging people to congregate and talk freely, to discuss their learning and their personal issues, with refreshments being available in certain areas as they study.

All these elements were not to be at the expense of the traditional quiet study areas. We determined that the building should be both large and clever enough to provide for a whole range of study situations from solo study places to group study rooms, those which are wired so connections can be made to the university network and those which are quiet oases where it would be likely that only users of print materials would congregate. We also wanted other study spaces where viewing of audiovisual resources would be possible singly, in small clusters, or in a small theatre, and where interaction with digital resources would be enabled.

On the ground floor, clearly evident to all entering the building would be a major area allowing access to electronic databases and Internet resources. This would be an important signal to all users of the growing importance of information in this form. Seating would be structured to allow people to access these resources singly or in partnership with others.

Books needed to be well catered for in this building as we recognised that print resources would retain their importance well into the future. The 'hybrid library' is the term employed to indicate where we are heading, involving a blending of print and digital.

A new feature of this building for Otago would be the IT help desk associated with the more traditional Reference/Information desk. The IT help desk would largely serve students but would also be available to all users though it was anticipated that most staff would still approach the IT help desk by means of phone or email. Staff at this desk would also help users encountering technical problems in accessing electronic resources.

The new Student Learning Centre was also a service to students which would be enhanced by synergies developing between the library, Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC), and ITS. Audio and teleconferencing facilities would also be housed in the building.

Also included would be a front desk introduction to a wide range of the university's student services then based in a less student-friendly building. Most enrolment would take place here.

Kiosks offering a variety of student-orientated retail services would extend along the length of the Link between the secure area of the library and the University Union building. This would be a new kind of space on campus. As well as being a major thoroughfare and entry-point to the university campus, being an internal space it would also provide casual study places where students may continue reading and writing while drinking coffee, meeting with friends and 'killing time' in between lectures.

The connection with the University Union building would be an important one in this regard for the Link is a vital connector between the Union, which is the social hub of the campus, and the library, which is the learning hub, and it contains elements of both, one melding into the other.

Altogether, we knew that this was a courageous development to be planning. When completed Otago would have a building well ahead of any university library/information services building in the country (at least for a few years). We hoped there would be imitators.

What was important was for Otago to be the first of a new breed and then to have the resources and the inventiveness to maintain that lead even when others' imitations were commissioned. That would be (and remains) the true challenge for the library and for the university.

The full Vision Statement was regularly used by the project working party as a check-list to ensure that planning was on track and that what was being planned or proposed would provide directly for the goals of the Vision Statement or enhance opportunities for its realisation.

The brief brief

It is important to understand the short and summary nature of Otago's project design brief. Ordinarily for a building of this size and complexity a very substantial, comprehensive and prescriptive brief would be produced at an early stage which would give key facts, figures, relationships, etc. which would lead in to a detailed prescription to guide the architects in their design of the building.

At Otago we were determined that the realisation of the building would not be limited to our thinking in 1995 or 1996. We wanted an ongoing, open and enriching dialogue between the university as client and the design consultants in order to keep testing proposals and extending the thinking of both parties. Flexibility was the keynote and was built in at every stage of the planning.

The project design brief was completed and approved (February 1996)[22] - a very brief and non-prescriptive document at only 39 pages aside from the technical figures involved - the preliminary and tentative sketch plans took bolder shape over succeeding months as user focus groups, the working party, the design consultants, facilities management staff, and other interested stakeholders contributed to the refinement in a splendidly collaborative process.

The selection of the prime design consultant, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA) - an inspired choice

The primary design consultants, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (Los Angeles office) were selected as a result of an international search. We sought a consultant with a proven record of library design expertise and the capacity to design high quality, large, technologically cutting-edge buildings.

Resumes were requested and evaluated and a further tour was made of selected projects by the short-listed architects. The selected firms were also requested to submit their offers of service. A key factor in recommending to the University Council that HHPA be appointed lead architects was the fact that they showed a willingness to enter into ongoing dialogue with the client to further enhance the developing design brief. They also had library building expertise within their core staff rather than engaging a separate library buildings consultant. These were major benefits.

Shortly after that contract was formalised, HHPA and the university selected OPUS International Consultants (New Zealand - with a Dunedin office) to work in tandem with them for much of the detailed drawing and supervision of the construction and fit-out process.

Much of HHPA's work had involved the programming and design of libraries, other heritage, cultural and academic buildings and even whole-of-campus planning. Flexibility and efficiency of layout, providing for current and future needs, optimal working environments and service points to assist in containing staff needs, and the need for preservation of collections were recognised.

In terms of academic libraries, the particular tension between the need to provide for researchers while meeting the daily needs of undergraduates was well understood by HHPA. They appreciated our desire to develop a largely self-sufficient community of users through assisting in the development of information literacy skills. The variety of study places required to meet growing needs for group study and viewing, and for power and data links as well as the provision of study places in traditional mode were part of their thinking.

HHPA appreciated the need to provide a general environment which was welcoming, providing a pleasant place to study whether for short bursts of learning or extended periods of research. The complex issues arising from changes in scholarly communication were already acknowledged and there was a commitment to work closely with the client to appreciate better the implications for Otago.

The trans-Pacific relationship between principal design consultants in Los Angeles and the client and secondary design consultant in Dunedin was interesting, challenging, thoroughly stimulating and ultimately fulfilling. Everything that could have been hoped for from dialogue with intelligent people who understood their own business and were committed to assisting others in the fulfilment of theirs was realised. HHPA staff made 16 visits to New Zealand during the course of the project and representatives of the client made two visits to Los Angeles. Each exchange was incredibly rewarding and advancing.

The cost of the offshore design consultants was little more than that of engaging a local New Zealand practice (aside from travel costs) but proved well worthwhile. CAD drawings were efficiently emailed across the Pacific with quality transmission. HHPA, having committed themselves to respond in timely manner, always sent their feedback by the due time.

The bigger picture

HHPA were concerned with the need to consider the bigger picture and not to contemplate a new building in isolation without consideration of its siblings on campus. They convinced the university of the need not only to create a distinctive new architecture on campus, the first of a third generation of buildings (the first generation being Victorian Gothic and the second generation 1960s and 70s concrete). They also suggested using this development as an opportunity to develop an indoor-outdoor student precinct linking the University Union building and a cluster of lecture theatres and of developing more aesthetically pleasing and functional traffic patterns.

A signal new element in the whole development grew from the germ of a modest atrium earlier planned between the Central Library and the University Union but which had never got beyond the conceptual stage. HHPA readily saw the possibilities and with the project group developed this to become what is now known as The Link - a two storied covered indoor area which splendidly provides for a merging of the learning and the social functions. During semester times it is the most heavily populated pedestrian place in all Dunedin. It serves, too, as a lobby to the social centre of the University Union and the learning centre of the library. Kiosks sell a range of goods including food and drink and stationery. There is a ground floor lounging area. As well, the Link provides for informal study places including two large group study rooms on its mezzanine floor.

In addition, HHPA helped to develop conceptual drawings relating to the planned formal entrance to the university and a visual and physical link between the planned ISB and that entrance in order to connect this new and dramatic building. They also developed conceptual design of the St David Lecture Theatre immediately adjacent to the planned major formal entrance to the university. The design of both the lecture theatre and the ISB strongly influenced a firm of local architects in their design of the university's Centre for Innovation which is also adjacent to the formal entrance.

United States Mk II

In May 1996, planning for the ISB continued with the major undertaking being the visit to California and Arizona of a project party of the director of Information Services, the university librarian and the works registrar, the Managing Director of OCTA (the project management consultants), and the New Zealand design consultant from OPUS International Consultants. The purpose was to test some of the planning assumptions by intensive workshopping at the office of HHPA and by making a number of site visits.

This visit assisted immeasurably in aligning the thinking of the United States and New Zealand parties. Perhaps most compelling of all was the visit made to the very fine new Phoenix Public Library utilising timber in a treasured way amongst a palette of other materials including a variety of steel and perforated steel casings.

Shortly after this, two HHPA principals visited Dunedin with a refined model of their proposal and held a further series of workshops with a variety of stakeholders. The university also involved representatives of the City Council in its planning process in order to have them on board at an early stage for what would be a building having a major impact on the city streetscape. The building was designed after all not only as a transformative agent for the library but also for the whole campus of the University of Otago in Dunedin.

Australia MK I

Towards the end of 1996 the student computing services manager (Information Technology Services, ITS), the help desk manager (ITS), the reference and science librarians visited seven Australian academic sites where ITS and library staff collaborated closely in order to provide optimal services to users. The principal task was to investigate IT help desk/reference information desk functions to test the university's initial concept for an Information Commons. Their findings were very useful in refining Otago's proposed solution in connection with both the ISB and Science Library planning.

Rare books and special collections

A vigorous debate took place between those who thought that the new building should only espouse and showcase the new, ie the electronic, and that the special collections (the largest and finest of any academic library in the country) should be either relegated to off-campus storage or moved into the Hocken Library. The library was strongly of the view that the roots of print culture should be honoured as much as the digital. It promoted the view that there was an appropriate place in the new building for the antique printing presses to be on show in a room where general users could see them at work and for the special collections of rare and fragile items to be housed in a properly air-conditioned environment and with a gallery to showcase them.

The arguments against moving the rare books out of the Central Library that proved successful were that: rare books housed in the ISB would symbolise the university's rich resources and its embodiment of our cultural heritage and intellectual traditions; rare books on campus would demonstrate that the library has postgraduate research collections of international standing; and the importance of adjacency to cognate collections.

A market place or a bazaar

Kathy Page, Assistant Director of the San Francisco Public Library, paid a visit to Dunedin around this time and gave helpful advice on a proposal for an information marketplace for the ground floor of the library. Ground floor service desks had been planned for all the services offered by the library. We came away from workshopping with Kathy understanding that instead of planning an information marketplace we had been planning a rather bizarre bazaar which would have confused users. A major gain was that we then moved to the concept of a service desk on each floor each with its own specific function but also embracing general enquiries for each floor and providing a measure of security throughout the building.

The completed design process

In the early part of 1998 final decisions were taken regarding most of the interior of the ISB including all of the Central Library. The decisions were arrived at through a process of intensive workshops with users setting the seal on the way the building would be organised. It was as a result of this process that the detailed design drawings could be developed. Following the signing off of the completed design in February 1998, the detailed working drawings were produced by OPUS International Consultants with the guiding hand still being provided by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates from their Los Angeles office.

Tenders called... and accepted

Following a short-listing process, construction tenders were called and in November 1998 Naylor Love Ltd were successful. Five years had elapsed since the first meeting of the working party. Work began on 16 November 1998 and continued for just over three years.

The university hosted an evening in July 1999 for the contractors and subcontractors, at which the consultants, facilities management and the university librarian spoke in order to enthuse all those involved in the project with its importance to the university, the city and the region. We wanted all the contractors to be as inspired by the vision as we were so as to develop a commitment to quality in all their work. This paid off.

Contractor relations

Throughout the project the relationship between the contractors, sub-contractors and library staff was relaxed, warm and friendly with all parties having the same goal in mind - the achievement of a quality, visionary building which would transform the Otago campus and enhance the delivery of information services. Two things were paramount in achieving this. The first was that there was a clear conduit for all matters between the library and the contractor provided in the person of the library's support services manager who attended all site meetings. Contracting staff were advised to ignore complaints or concerns of other library colleagues without the endorsement of the support services manager or on occasion myself. In addition, we determined upon a culture of celebration and frequently invited representatives of each group to after-work parties to honour the work achieved at each significant milestone. Sometimes we gathered socially simply to acknowledge frustration in progress brought about by inclement weather, delays in supply of materials, or the need to hold back on certain noisy activities because of impending examinations.

Decanting, demolition and dust

The decanting process for the Central Library proceeded well over summer 1998/99. With one third of the existing building being demolished to provide a level site for the construction of phase one of the new building, some of the library's operations had to be vacated from the site.

The collection management department and special collections were relocated to the nearby building formerly occupied by Hocken Library archives and photographs. As well, approximately 30,000 volumes of lesser-used Central Library stock including some ceased runs of journals were transferred to the same building. The ITS computing resource room, formerly housed in the Central Library, was re-sited to the ground floor of the nearby Arts Building.

Within the remainder of the Central Library building almost every operation and service was re-housed over the following six weeks though the settling in process and some reorganisation of public spaces took until early February 1999, immediately prior to the start of the first semester.

The noise, for the very most part, was not as great as library colleagues and the consultants had anticipated. But the vibrations to the building during the demolition process were occasionally sufficient to cause ceiling tiles to be displaced, stock to fall from shelves, and staff and users to feel quite discomforted. In addition, the discovered presence of asbestos in an area thought clear interrupted progress while occupational safety and health advice was sought and appropriate action taken.

The rearrangement of stock and services was accomplished with a zero net effect on the number of reader places in the Central Library (by now 1,283) though the dimensions of each were very tight indeed (averaging only 1.6 m²). The library took advantage of the temporary arrangements until everything left in the rump of the old building could move into Phase One of the ISB, to re-configure operations and services as close as possible to what they would be in the new building.

As a result, Reserve would now operate on the first floor separate from the Loans desk on the ground floor successfully piloting the planned open-access model increasing turnover considerably with no additional staff. In addition, Reference colleagues moved to an open-plan workroom rather than working from a series of small offices. The administration section was configured in a manner almost identical to that pertaining in the new building, creating in advance new opportunities to develop a community of colleagues working to common purpose rather than individuals working in a chain along a long narrow corridor.

Permanent library colleagues were supplemented in the decanting process by a team of students known as 'yellow-jackets' for their bright yellow decanting T-shirts. These shirts were to identify them from would-be opportunistic thieves especially when they were carrying stock and equipment from the building. The level of co-operation among staff in facilities management, the commercial carriers and the project management consultants assisting library colleagues in plotting and executing the decanting process was of a high order.

Regular, sometimes daily, email newsletters advised all staff of issues relating to the decanting, disposition of stock, services and equipment, hazards and other OSH issues, required clothing (in particular the need for protective footwear), the availability of ear plugs (for users and staff), security of exits, measures being taken to deal with noise, dirt and cold. This period was not without its challenges but no one could justifiably complain that they were not kept fully informed.

In terms of managing a good study environment through this time the library devised a noise 'barometer' indicating noise levels likely during each morning, afternoon, and evening. Thus students were able to ascertain just how noisy the conditions were likely to be and whether they should study in another branch of the library system, provided, of course, that they were not dependent on resources held in the Central Library. The barometer device was well regarded and eased public relations. The 'barometer' was employed throughout the three year construction period. At rare times of intensive noisy activity email listservers were employed to advise users that conditions would be substantially sub-optimal for a few hours. But throughout students were much more tolerant of noise from the contractors than the library had anticipated.

Construction begins

Our concern was that students should not be disadvantaged by an inferior study environment during the construction phase. Every effort was made to maintain a pleasant and relatively quiet atmosphere in spite of the construction noise. Radios common to construction sites were prohibited and contractual limits placed on noise which could occur at times of intensive study pressure prior to and during examination periods. It was never difficult for the library to indicate when the noise levels had been exceeded. Requests to the contractor to move staff to another operation away from the temporary wall between the active library and the construction site and complete very noisy work outside of the library's generous opening hours were always acceded to with good grace.

In general the contractor managed to contain heavy noise and vibration within constraints considered acceptable by the library. Any unwitting heavy or especially irritating noise was terminated as soon as the origin of the travelling sound was traced. Where serious delays would compromise the progress of the building program, students were consulted and invariably were co-operative in tolerating the disruption.

Overcrowding, having been a feature of the library's accommodation for several years, did not seem to be more of a problem to students than previously in spite of the fact that the density of occupation increased. One unexpected factor arising from the more regular construction noise was that talking and whispering in supposedly quieter areas was buffered by the ambient construction sound resulting in fewer complaints about noise created by talkative students than previously.

While construction continued at target pace, the interface between the old and new parts of the building showed strain with unexpected heavy rainfall during the summer of 1998/99 resulting in flooding and threat to stock which had to be moved and protected quickly. This pattern continued throughout 1999 and showed an accelerated pattern in the summer of 1999/2000. Library staff became adept at moving furniture and equipment quickly and in operating out of makeshift bivouacs with aplomb. In all only one pamphlet was damaged through a construction related mishap.

At the end of 1999 detailed planning for moving the entire contents, services and operations remaining in the rump of the old Central Library building into Phase One of the ISB was almost complete.

Decanting again...

The care that went into planning the move into Phase One of the ISB showed in the minimal disruption to services. The move went smoothly with the library closed for only one weekend in the mid-semester break and the following Monday and Tuesday. During the whole project of 36 months this was the only period of closure and the high priority placed on continuing services in sometimes adverse circumstances earned the library and its staff much goodwill from users.

However, Phase One of the new building was scarcely ready for occupation in parts. If there had not been pressure to move during the mid-semester break the library would have waited for several weeks until the contractors and subcontractors were clear. This would have meant moving in the middle of the semester. While the contractors understood that from the time of the move they had to finish any work remaining around the library's optimal functionality there is no doubt that each was an impediment to the other for some time. With goodwill on both sides the remaining trades work was achieved though some continued until February 2001.

At the completion of construction and fit-out of the first stage of the ISB the library had moved from the cramped conditions of the old building to the well-planned spaces and sweeping lines of the new. Excellent design gave the illusion of space while in reality being economical. Students were immediately impressed with the variety of views both internal and external, the combination of rectangular and curved lines, the soaring atrium and the intimacy of the low-ceilinged carrels. While the number of study places increased only slightly at this stage, the area for each reader place allowed for a comfortable working distance between bodies, something which had not been the case in the old library for decades. At examination time seating was once again under pressure and students happily seized tables and chairs destined for the second phase of the building to establish study places in every nook and cranny.

A striking feature of the new building was the absorption of sound - a tribute to acoustical planning. Students fell naturally into keeping their voices low, resulting in a subdued study environment. Student comments, many written, indicated appreciation of the light, sunshine, comfortable armchairs, and the ease of movement in the wider stacks.

Students quickly took over the space and claimed it as their own, sprawling in the many comfortable armchairs and working intensively solo or collaboratively in the various study spaces designed for such use. It was a pleasure to see academic staff returning to the library as the new conditions provided for more comfortable research. The five group study rooms (in Phase One) proved immensely popular, as did the group viewing rooms in the audiovisual area.

The two rooms designed for students with disabilities were well patronised, with their gas-lift adjustable tables and other ergonomic features which allowed students to take a break from their wheelchairs. Voice-to-text training facilities for blind and partially sighted students opened up new opportunities for successful study for these students.

Work on phase two begins...

With the library decanted entirely from the rump of the old building to the new it was originally planned for the contractors to have some down time and not to take up major demolition and construction again until just after the final examinations in November 2000. However, discussions between project staff, students and the library resulted in a decision to continue work right away on gutting the remainder of the old building leaving only the columns and floors. The entire external shell was stripped away as was every non-structural element inside. When one looked at the skeleton which remained many wondered why the university had not simply demolished the whole building but the saving in cost through preserving and reusing these elements was significant.

and ends...

The completion of the second phase of the building project saw the library move into the almost completed building (along with some reordering of service desks which had been in temporary positions in the first phase of the building). The building had been planned for completion in October but for a variety of justifiable reasons, the contractors and many of the subcontractors were still on the site completing a number of areas and details for several weeks later.

By the end of the year collection management had moved back into the Central Library from its temporary site and the Special Collections were moved into the air-conditioned closed stack in January 2002, although the gallery was not able to be used for some time because the right grade of ultra-violet protective glass had not arrived.

So what has Otago achieved?

The Information Services Building has created an entirely new space on campus. It contains a superb information and knowledge marketplace within a transformative 'Wow factor' building on the Dunedin campus.

At over 130 metres long, the ISB is one of the university's largest buildings. Glass curtain walls wrap most of the building's exterior allowing for a translucent shell which enables the public to look in and see students studying - the only place around campus they can do this.

Four glazed reading rooms with high ceilings echo the classical nineteenth century tradition but readily admit views of the nearby student area for those within. The interior plan encourages interaction both of staff and students and while it is an IT-rich building nowhere is technology oppressive or dominating.

The library with its Information Commons containing a large electronic resources area with 132 machines, a joint library/ITS help desk and print and microform reference collection is by far the largest tenant of the three storied building (14 000 m² of the 20 000 m² gross area). The building also houses the Student Learning Centre, Student Information Services and the ID card office, ITS Teaching Facilities, Careers Advisory Service, Summer School and Continuing Education Office, Audio and Video-Conference rooms, the Proctor and Campus Cop and the Information Services Divisional Office, and student services retail kiosks.

The building has a major impact on the city streetscape. At night it is transformed into a tremendous light-box, rather in the image of a passenger liner impressed into the ground. One can imagine that, after running full-steam into the head of the harbour in its enthusiasm to realise its function at the heart of the campus, it ploughed through several city blocks to claim its chosen place.

Within the building the external world is visible from almost every place within the larger open spaces, so cleverly have the solid elements like offices, group study rooms and service cores been grouped. From the second story of the building students can look south to a major surfing beach. From all floors, the northern hills beckon students to pit their bodies against steep slopes. And to the west and south at lower levels the cafes, bars and a park favoured by students are clearly visible offering immediate release and reward for another burst of study.

The link - a unique feature

The Link is a major and vital element of the Information Services Building project providing a melding of the features of the learning centre of the university, the library, with the social centre of the campus for students, the University Union Building. It contains a variety of spaces - the expected and the unexpected. There are e-stop kiosks allowing internet access. There are areas for those wishing to study in a more relaxed manner than the secure area of the library allows. There is lounge and café seating grouped so that students can engage with each other and with staff in comfort.

As well, there is a variety of small retail operations, most managed by the University Union, which provide refreshments, stationery and other services for those passing through or electing to stay and relax or work. There are spaces that lend themselves to small recitals, dramatic events, musical entertainments or readings. The Link is open all the library's opening hours and is a busy place of great variety and diversity with a pedestrian count exceeding any other place in the city.

The west lobby of the Link provides a major entry not only to the building but also to the university for members of the public, students and staff approaching from the city including the south (Health Sciences) campus. Likewise it is a major conduit to the city from the north campus. At the eastern end, the Link disperses those coming from the west to the Castle Theatres, Humanities and Commerce buildings and also collects these same people when they come to any of the services provided within the ISB, on their way to the city or the south campus. The Link section of the ISB provides a major connection between the University Union building and the secure area of the Central Library. In this way it also forms a major north-south passage from the student-intensive socialising area of the Union and the lawn on its north face. The lawn has been redeveloped with ISB project funding as a kind of market place of student activities.

The main concourse of the Link provides a broad high-ceilinged space through which all users of the building move. The two levels of the space provide many opportunities for meetings, discussion, study, eating and drinking. The Link provides a large volume, top-lit space, with visual connection to the ground and first floor levels of the library. A mezzanine balcony skirts the northern edge of the space at the eastern end and in the central area and then crosses to the south at the western end. Shop kiosks line the north side of the Link on the lower level. Informal study places on the mezzanine (including two large group study rooms) are counted as part of the library's study seating for statistical purposes. On the ground floor of the Link lounge and café seating provides for meeting, reading and eating and drinking spaces and is not counted as a study place even though many of the chairs are used for this purpose outside of peak times.

The Link provides in close proximity a range of heavily used student services for which it is a wonderful conduit. The feeling of light and activity is enhanced by the architectural features which provide shade from direct sunlight but allow the sun to warm the space. The interior fit-out and the heating and ventilating system is designed as for the interior of the secure areas of the library. Quality is the keynote. The building sets a new standard for the university in terms of the value that the university places on the student community, on information student/staff exchanges, and on access to information and knowledge.

Altogether, the Link is an exciting feature of the building, providing a welcoming, sociable and relaxed environment for students, staff and members of the public.

The walls between link and library

The perforated metal screen alternating with glass panels which extends from floor to ceiling between the secure part of the library and the Link areas is part of the intrinsic design of the building. This was designed as a key feature of the building since many university students now require a variety of study places including the more informal, group situations, and the ability to converse (not always quietly) while they are studying. As well, the permeable wall allows the whole building to be heated and ventilated as one space.

There is some noise spill from the Link to the secure library along the perforated wall. Acknowledging that there was a problem for some students with some of the social functions earlier held in the Link, a code of practice was drawn up for events taking place there. This brought much better control over events held in the Link during semester times. Complaints about noise emanating from the Link virtually evaporated as a result.

The information commons

The Information Commons comprises a large section of the ground floor of the Central Library and provides in addition to print and microform reference collections, and a copyshop, an intensive area of hardware and software accessing information products both local and distant - Web, CD-Rom, and other electronic database services, access to the university's network, Blackboard, a variety of software packages for students to use when working on assignments, and the OPAC. Specialised staff are on hand to help students with any information problems whether relating to location, information literacy, software or hardware issues. Seminar rooms for the library's extensive information literacy programs, are all part of the Information Commons.

No matter what time of the year, in or out of semester there is a very high occupancy rate of the 132 electronic stations in the electronic resources area of the Information Commons. There are frequent queues forming from 9am until the evenings and waiting students prove reluctant to move to the many computing resources rooms around campus where there are vacant machines - a monitor alongside the queue advises of these spare places - because they would rather study in the new environment. In setting a new standard on campus the new building has thrown into the shade other perfectly adequate and functional facilities. As university students move home or into employment following examinations at the end of the second semester the computer stations are occupied by tertiary students from the neighbouring polytechnic and college of education and from secondary schools. The use of the library by students of local secondary schools is a good thing when they are not at risk of displacing university students for they are appreciating the fine facilities which Otago has provided and hopefully will be more inclined to want to study at Otago than any other university.

The management of the reference/information/help desk was something to which a great deal of thought was given. We were aware of joint library/ITS help desks in other libraries not working out in practice and of models where separate but adjacent desks were joined together after a time and then moved into separate positions. We were also aware of libraries where ITS staff failed to multi-skill sufficiently to be able to assist on a joint desk and where librarians did all the multi-skilling providing both traditional reference and technical support roles interchangeably. The solution at Otago was of a single desk with library staff at one end, and ITS colleagues at the other. The whole desk was called a help desk (adopting ITS terminology). Key colleagues in each unit worked together to devise a list of competencies associated with offering joint library/ITS services in the Information Commons. Sixteen competencies were determined as joint, a further eleven being particular to library staff and nine particular to ITS staff.[23] The arrangement has worked very well indeed. Library staff are on duty for all the hours of opening of the library, though permanent staff cover only until 9pm in the evenings while student assistants help until the library closes at 11pm.

Study places

There are more than 20 different kinds of study space within the total of just over 2000 in the ISB so students can most often find something to their liking whether it be an interior cosy monastic cell, group study facilities where higher noise levels are acceptable, or lounge chairs to stretch out in and doze off in between chapters. There is a wide range of views from different areas in the building - those looking out towards Dunedin's chief surfing beach, those looking towards favourite student bars nearby, those looking across to the treed canopy of the Museum Reserve, and those looking into the campus with traditional buildings.

Approximately one third of the study places are currently wired for power so that students can bring their own laptops into the building and one quarter (included in the above) are wired for both power and data so that students can plug their laptops into the university network. There is a slow uptake of laptop use on campus at Otago so far with at most 40 users with laptops at any one time (though 777 student laptops are registered for use in the ISB) so the present provision is more than adequate but at some stage it will be easy to extend the cabling for both power and data to other areas of seating - if indeed wireless is not able to be employed.

The mezzanine floor of the Link provides happily for those students who enjoy studying informally in an area with a higher level of ambient noise and some apparently welcome distractions. There are informal study places with café style tables and chairs throughout the open area and two large group study rooms which are self-policing (whereas the 17 group study rooms and the 5 group viewing rooms in the secure part of the library are able to be booked).

There is a seemingly insatiable demand for lounge type seating. This was certainly under-configured in the initial design but project funding still available has allowed for numbers to be increased. At the same time, rather than going overboard to a new model, we programmed in a good many spaces of the quiet traditional model and these form the majority of places in the Central Library.

By and large, though, the ratio of the different types of seating is about right and no matter what proportion of seating overall is occupied at any stage there are users taking advantage of the particular benefits of each kind of study place. For most of the semesters students are able to choose which part of the Central Library they prefer to work in. It is only in the period immediately prior to examinations and during the early days of the examinations that the Central Library is packed to capacity and people are not always able to choose the study place they consider most desirable in spite of about 300 additional temporary tables and chairs being brought in to help cope with peak demand. There is, however, capacity in the generally open public areas to increase the number of permanent reader places by about 400 within the ISB as a whole without overcrowding as student enrolments increase and without any reduction in the open-access collection.

Non-hierarchical offices

The ISB also established a new model for the library of placing almost all senior library staff (including the university and deputy university librarians) on the ground floor in close proximity to the main service desks rather than being well away from the main entrances. This is in accord with the philosophy of the library that in a strongly user-centred service those responsible for managing the service should be readily available to users and in close proximity to the main service points. Offices, which are limited to senior managerial staff, have at least two windows one looking onto colleagues and one onto public areas, the latter so that we all have a constant reminder as to where our priorities should lie.

In a building with such a large footprint as this one most of the offices are internal and none of the library ones on the ground floor abuts directly onto an outside wall. This allows light and views to penetrate more widely into the interior of the building, something not easily possible if the exterior walls are lined with offices.

From the beginning it was accepted that there would not be a hierarchical range of office sizes for different levels of staff. Open plan was to be the norm save for those who required enclosed office space in which to transact confidential business. Functionality was the key by which spaces were decided and so those of us with offices have spaces which are within one square metre of others in terms of size. Additional interview, committee, project working spaces and reception rooms are provided for those who need to meet with groups which are too large to be accommodated within the confines of our offices.

The acceptance of the modular unit office was also consistent with the notion that with such a large and impressive building we determined at the outset that there should be no signs of ostentation.

Atria

There are two atria in the building. One lights the two floors of Link space and the other allows light to penetrate the three stories of the secure part of the library to bring in light and warmth with the sun's rays being reflected from the light shelf on the upper level onto the light scoops and then down into the interior core of the building. At night floodlights perform a similar function. The sculptural quality of the light reflectors provides a visual treat from all floors of the building and helps to offset the lack of an embellishment budget for art works in the building.

Sustainability

The Information Services Building is a smart building and the cost of the power employed to heat and ventilate it is low. Only four areas of the library, those housing the special collections and gallery, the seminar rooms and adjacent electronic resources area and the copyshop are air-conditioned or have spot cooling because of the heat generated by people and machines. The double-glazed exterior sheath has a low-E reflective coating which filters the sunlight and minimises gain from solar heat. In common with most other University of Otago buildings on the Dunedin campus the perimeter of the building is naturally ventilated. Automatically controlled windows on all faces of the building combine with the generally open-plan nature of the interior to provide for the efficient distribution of fresh air.

The use of Indigenous materials

The determination of the planning group to employ local materials to effect is shown most obviously in the use of matai (a native timber) panelling to sheath interior boxes of group reading rooms and service cores. Matai is a fine and relatively scarce commodity and we were able to satisfy the conservationists that very little was employed since it was a veneer only. Also employed to great effect is Oamaru stone - a local limestone - to clad the prominent curved concrete spine which runs through the interior of the building and breaks through to the exterior at the western end. This wall creates a focus within the building in particular and aids orientation, something greatly appreciated by users, and is of such benefit that way-finding is employed in only minimal manner.

Value for money

Repeatedly, engineers and architects and librarians who have been engaged in recent major projects on seeing the building are impressed that we achieved so much for the dollars spent. From the very early stages of planning we worked on engineering a lot of the costs out of the building project. We did not constrain the architects by giving them an inadequate budget figure for what we wanted but worked as a team on this together - users, project managers, other consultants and the facilities management people of the time. Playing a key role were the quantity surveyors who helped to deliver excellent value for $46m. What started out as a tentative budget for a Central Library extension of $25m grew to a complex design project with unconstrained bigger picture elements brought in at a cost in the region of $80m and then was reduced in scope to a project costing $46m, which was the final approved budget. The project was delivered on target in spite of the fact that the Campus Development Committee of the University Council approved during the life of the project an additional $1m of scope without any compensatory funding. The design consultants involved positively described their engagement with the Otago team as a 'life-changing experience'.

The response to the building - general

There is considerable enthusiasm for the building from virtually all quarters and the students greatly appreciate the additional quality study places.

The enhancement of synergies with the providers of student services within the ISB has been realised and can be taken further. Library staff collaborate with colleagues of the Student Learning Centre to develop information literacy programs, the training required for teaching librarians, and the developing of networks with others in the academic community. The relationship between ITS teaching facilities and the library has been strengthened with co-operation regarding the management and operation of the help desk and the electronic resources area of the library. It is pleasing to see that academic staff are returning to the Central Library to study for extended periods. The miserable conditions in the old library building had deterred all but the most desperate. In the Link some sit with their students discussing problems in learning and research.

The ISB is literally inundated with students and with enrolment figures growing a further 10% in 2003 the building is proving it can cope with the larger community. The library is currently ordering additional stackable tables and chairs which can be brought out at times of intense study pressure to cope with the numbers. To what extent the building is responsible for the increase in EFTS is not certain but the university uses images of the building widely in its marketing campaigns and in its publications.

The ISB has become a landmark building nationally and one of the most stimulating buildings to be erected in New Zealand in recent years. At the time of writing it has received one award for City Development and has been nominated for a number of architectural awards both in New Zealand and the United States.

Those reading this article should not be tempted to think that this was an easy process. It was tough - all the way. But all the players in the project had an unstinted commitment to the vision and put in the 'hard yards' in time, energy, and skills working in a collaborative manner to ensure success. My title - 'challenge, stimulation and ultimate fufilment' assuredly rings true for all those intimately involved.

Where to from here

A number of external commentators are treating the completion of the building as a happy conclusion to a period of intensive planning and realisation. Those working within the library know that it represents the beginning of a new phase taking advantage of these wonderful functionally efficient, comfortable and attractive new spaces to develop further the synergies possible with staff of other units providing quality student services from the building.

New rounds of change process are facilitated by the environment and by the wish of those committed to the Vision to continue enhancing and extending services for the benefit of the whole university community.

Notes

1. D Band et al University of Otago Library: Report of the Review Panel 1993
2. Further to reduce to 1.66 m² by the time the old building was vacated
3. M Wooliscroft 'Access and Ownership: Academic Libraries' Collecting and Service Responsibilities and the Emerging Benefits of Electronic Publishing and Document Supply' New Zealand Libraries vol 47 no. 9 March 1994 pp170-180
4. University of Otago Library: Accommodation Programme for the University Library System, 1993-2008 1993
5. E Wainwright Towards the 21[st] Century: Sequential Review of the University of Otago Library: Report to the Vice-Chancellor AIMA 1994
6. M Wooliscroft Reader Places Dunedin February 1998
7. University Library Space Needs Study: A Fifteen Year Perspective Urbana Champaign University of Illinois 13 April 1995 p32 being an example
8. It should be noted that the ratio varies between different units of the Library based on information gained from the library' s surveys of occupancy of reader places. The ratio planned for the Central Library is 1:3.9, the Dental Library is 1:4.3, the Law Library is 1:1.8, the Medical Library is 1:5.7 and the Science Library is 1:5.3
9. M Wooliscroft Centralization/Decentralization of University Library System October 1993
10. University of Otago Library Annual Report 1996 University of Otago
11. M Wooliscroft Size of Print Collection to be housed in ISB April 1996; M Wooliscroft The Print Collection March 1998
12. M Wooliscroft' Developing a Commitment to the Vision: Presentation to Consultants and Contractors' Dunedin July 1999
13. Information Services Building: Project Design Brief 16 February 1996 p19
14. M Anderson, C Doudney and M Wooliscroft Report of Study Tour on US Libraries May 1995 pp1-2
15. M Wooliscroft 'Information Services Building Working Party Presentation to Vice-Chancellor's Advisory Group; Senior Staff - Division of Information Services; Otago' University Students Association. April 1995 p8
16. Ibid p10
17. Campus Plan 1989 Joint Campus Plan: Future Development Strategy: Final Report and Executive Summary
18. M Anderson, C Doudney and M Wooliscroft Report of Study Tour on US Libraries May 1995 pp41-45
19. M Fordyce Recommendations for the Amalgamation and Restructuring of the Acquisitions and Cataloguing Departments October 1997
20. G Payne Consultancy Services to University of Otago Library: Report to the University Librarian December 1994
21. M Hanson Change Management Seminar (Top Drawer Consultants) November 1995
22. University of Otago Library Annual Report 1996 pp19-20
23. Information Services Building: Project Design Brief 16 February 1996
24. R Harwood-Stevenson and N Walmsley Joint Library/ITS Services in the Information Commons 17 August 2001

Michael Wooliscroft, university librarian, University Library, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. E-mail michael.wooliscroft@library.otago.ac.nz.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address).