Jocelyn Glenn

Where hands meet and knowledge grows

Ringa Rehe Library reimagines the role of the library as a space for making, sharing, and connection. The project responds to the lack of non-commercial public space in Newmarket by proposing a tactile, community-centred alternative. Grounded in the values of labour, care, and Kotahitanga (unity), the library’s design celebrates the act of making as a form of knowledge exchange. Its spaces are dedicated to sewing, pottery, woodworking, and oral teaching, encouraging people to gather, learn, and connect through shared gestures and materials. Handmade ceramic tiles, timber and metal surfaces bear the thumbprints of their makers, honouring the collective effort embedded in the building’s construction. Linking the sky and earth through Tāne Mahuta, a symbolic red column, Ringa Rehe Library invites the public to engage deeply with place, with one another, and with the ongoing process of creating knowledge together.