All the best bits of Wellington’s rejuvenated central library

Saturday, 15 November 2025

Ahead of its March reopening, André Chumko took a behind-the-scenes tour of Wellington Central Library Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui to preview its new spaces and facilities.

In March 2019 Wellington’s much-loved central library was shuttered following concerns about its seismic vulnerability. Nearly seven years later, and with much strengthening and refurbishing having been completed, the city council is finally and once again preparing to reopen the building.

The first thing visitors will notice entering the library off Victoria St, underneath the renowned nīkau palms that have stayed put, is a dazzling multicoloured hanging artwork by Ngahina Hohaia that’s made of chain links. The work - visible across multiple floors of the library - is sure to take people’s breath away. It acts as a sort of kaleidoscopic grand entrance chandelier that’s reminiscent of the architectural mesh velarium on the façade of the city’s Circa Theatre.

The outside of the library, meanwhile, honours the late mana whenua poet and librarian JC Sturm and her poem Brown Optimism. Sturm worked at the central library for more than 20 years, and was one of the first Māori librarians in Aotearoa.

On the ground floor is the children’s collection, plus accessible and large-print titles and magazines for older adults and, for ease of access, those with mobility issues.

But walking in it’ll also be hard to miss the newly-installed giant rust red seismic braces that have been integrated with the furniture, shelving and seating as best as contractors can. Immediately noticeable is that the building is brighter and more flushed with light than before, thanks to new windows.

Design aspects of the interior are supposed to resemble a forest, with the carpet inspired by the natural world and the lower levels featuring fungi, insects, snails and flightless birds. As you venture up the floors, the iconography shifts to represent the wildlife that calls the forest canopy home.

Also on the ground level is a soundproof low sensory room, toys included. A cafe is now on this floor where the children’s library used to be.

At the Harris St end of the ground floor is a spacious bleachers area with yet-to-be-installed comfy furniture for hangouts, or drop-in events such as author talks, which will be able to take place around the library. The space has audiovisual capacity for presentations, and leads directly up to the mezzanine.

Here’s where you’ll find another newly installed artwork by mana whenua artist Wiremu Barriball (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Rarawa). Contractors have kept the continuity of the building’s history with certain elements of former libraries kept, including for example historical chairs.

Also on the mezzanine is PlayHQ, Capital E’s public indoor play space designed for tamariki aged up to five and their caregivers to enjoy together. Buses will likely be parked on Harris St, with the library being directly accessible through the mezzanine entrance off Harris St.

Moving south towards Wakefield St, a small mezzanine-level exhibition gallery is co-managed with the city council’s arts team. Nearby are meeting spaces seating 50 to 75 people each, flanking a commercial kitchen for event catering. In total there are eight bookable meeting rooms throughout the library.

That kitchen will be used by Experience Wellington teams, and a new website detailing booking information for all the library’s spaces will be launched in the New Year.

On level one is the main adult fiction and non-fiction sections, and when The Post visits many books are already stacked on shelves and free-standing displays, though the colour coding has changed slightly. All the books at Brandon St’s Te Awe Library will come to this level. Overall this is the most collective-intensive floor, however an interfaith/prayer room remains on this level as well.

Level one also includes maker space rooms - creative workshops open to the public with access to a 3D printer, laser cutter, sewing machines, hand tools and an overlocker. These are all free except for a nominal fee to cover the printer’s filament costs. Classes will also run in these spaces.

On level two, what was a library administrative block has now been given back to the public. The former library staffroom is now a new youth area, in which people can read and play games in a gaming corner, with vintage gaming consoles available. The remainder of Capital E’s spaces are located on this floor, including a media lab for filmmaking workshops.

The library’s audiovisual collections and music scores will also be kept on this level, as will the New Zealand reference collections and Māori collections, which are returning in their entirety to the building.

A new identity centre has been created, which will be staffed by the City Archives team (but the City Archives collections are not being moved in to the library). It includes an archives reading room to access special documents or rare material, or for people who want to do genealogical research or research on Wellington City. Oral histories will also be kept here.

For the first time the library will employ an oral historian, and a soundproof recording studio on this floor can be used to record oral histories.

But it would not go amiss to mention the grand gem of the redeveloped library, a new room adorned with magical wall and roof artworks by Darcy Nicholas (Te Āti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Hauā), that are backlit by light boxes.

This extension to the building has magnificent views of the Dominion Building to the west and Civic Square to the east. People and groups will be able to host author talks, public lectures and civic ceremonies here.

The space seats around 120-130 people, and has a screen and great acoustics. It also has a small adjoining kitchenette for basic catering facilities. It will be available after-hours for ticketed programmes but, when not in use, will be an extra hangout and reading room open to the public.

And upstairs above all this, new stacks and storage space will finally give the collection room to breathe — something the old building never could.