Situated in the conservation area of Gravesend town centre, the project involves the conservation, refurbishment and fit-out of a 106 year-old Grade II Listed Andrew Carnegie library building. Clay Architecture Ltd were brought on board when the project was at risk because the original architect reached an impasse with the Conservation Architects over design. We were able to reconcile the client’s brief for a flexible and contemporary town centre library with the Conservation Architect’s requirements for building within an area of local heritage significance by proposing the replacement of two adjoining bays of structurally unsound Georgian terrace shophouses with a new three-storey library extension that faithfully reconstructs the original shophouse elevation using the original aged facing bricks and windows, with the steelwork framing expressed at ground level with a contemporary cor-ten steel and glass shopfront design at ground floor level (Cor-ten or weathering steel is a product that was patented by US Steel, the company founded by Andrew Carnegie, in 1932). Conservation and refurbishment works to the original Edwardian library building include masonry and window repairs, re-roofing the existing slate roof, over-roofing of the existing flat roof, and refurbishing and upgrading the existing feature rooflights to reduce heat gain, solar glare, and provide passive-stack ventilation and night cooling to the library spaces. Originally planned as a Design and Build, the project was eventually procured traditionally due to the technical complexity of the build. The works completed within budget in late August 2011.