The multi award winning, SA Drill Core Library is an honest expression of its function on many levels; designed to resemble a ‘Library’ with its collection, viewing, administration and ‘educational’ functions. As such the form reflects the importance of the mineral core collection by integrating the main functions into a single architectural response that runs the length of the site. Articulation of the façade, the juxtaposition and gradation of materials from the front to the back of a long bold form draw their inspiration from the imagery of mining sites and geological formations, as well as the drill cores themselves that are fractured and change in colour and texture through the various strata of the rock they are drawn from. The logistics and deliveries/ processing areas are represented as a secondary element, similarly long and uniform running in parallel like a vein of ore or mineral, but subservient to the more significant and important function of the adjacent library. The materials palette is deliberately raw, with corten panels (solid and perforated) gradually giving way to articulated precast panels that are rhythmic and are evocative of geological formations. Metal inserts in the precast panels further emphasise the ‘grain’ of geological form.

Architecture & Interior Design: Thomson Rossi

• Location Tonsley, South Australia
• Client DMITRE
• Completed 2016
• Budget $32m