Is this the world's wildest library? Geelong's $45 million 'big brain' about to open up to the world

"That dome is Geelong's huge brain overlooking Silicon Bay."

Trust Darryn Lyons, the exuberant mayor of Victoria's second-biggest city, to have a colourful turn of phrase for the region's newest landmark – Geelong's $45 million library and heritage centre, which opens to the public on November 21.

The new Geelong Library and Heritage Centre.Credit: Emma Cross

Variously described by residents, workers and traders as an "eggshell", "ugly" and "a waste of money" during a quick straw poll on Monday, there's clearly a bit of work to do convince the public of its merit.

More than a decade after Geelong abandoned a push to get its own Guggenheim museum in the mold of Bilbao's Frank Gehry-designed landmark, the city now has a piece of architecture that may help it shake off its Sleepy Hollow tag as it tries to evolve from struggling manufacturing centre into a 21st century smart city.

City of Greater Geelong capital projects manager Scott Cavanagh, arts and culture manager Kaz Paton and ARM Architects technical director Wayne Sanderson in front of the new $45 million Geelong Library and Heritage Centre.Credit: Jason South

Designed by ARM Architecture, which last week won a major national award for its redevelopment of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance, the spherical structure sits wedged between a Victorian bandstand in adjoining Johnstone Park and the mid-century, low-lying Geelong Art Gallery.

Like a giant golf ball or an igloo opened up, with panels of glass reaching almost the full height of the dome, it looks nothing like the functional building that preceded it.

From the bright orange decor of the top floor (each level is coded in technicolour bursts), it has spectacular views across Corio Bay, out to the You Yangs and on a clear day across to Melbourne's skyline.

ARM Architecture technical director Wayne Sanderson said the dome was a nod to traditional library buildings such as the State Library of Victoria's reading room dome, but with a "grotto", like the "entrance to a cave".

The "nest", the children's section on the first floor, features furnishings designed to resemble The Very Hungry Caterpillar.Credit: Jason South

For Geelong Regional Libraries' chief executive officer Patti Manolis the building ushers in a new era in terms of how the service operates, and is being closely watched by countries including Sweden, Finland and Denmark as an exemplar of what libraries can become.

Don't expect to hear any shushing when you walk in, or to be told off for bringing in food and drink: the ground floor will be an open, active space with a cafe (starting in the new year) and decking that looks out over the park.

Geelong Regional Libraries CEO Patti Manolis tests out a reading chair that helps muffle noise.Credit: Jason South

The first floor has a kids' space furnished to resemble the children's story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There's also an area for older children and teenagers, with TV screens (including a monster 100-inch gaming screen), game stations that utilise the building's super hi-speed wifi and an enclosed couch space cheekily dubbed the "kissing booth" (which may require some patrolling).

There are plenty of books – storage for more than 4.2 kilometres worth if you laid them end to end – and such materials still have their place in the modern library. Yet here it's set to become more of a meeting place, and a space for engaging with technology while improving literacy in a region that has long lagged behind on that benchmark.

The heritage floor is decorated in bright red, with technology such as PCs, scanners and microfilm readers sitting alongside books and maps.Credit: Jason South

"It resembles a brain and teenagers can enjoy 21st century technology into the future," Lyons says. "It used to be about whispering," he says of the traditional library. "[But] have a look at that, it has to be heaven for a teenager. Kids have to be in a space that they can interact in in the modern century."