The British Library Extension

  

Artist's impression of the proposed extension to 
the British Library.

Central Somers Town

I have just read that Camden Council has approved a £500 million twelve storey extension to the British Library, next door to the Francis Crick Institute, which will feature extra galleries, commercial space and shops. It will include a new home for the Alan Turing Centre for data intelligence and artificial intelligence plus two new entrances and better access to St Pancras Station. The basement will include the infrastructure for the proposed new Crossrail 2 rail link and a pedestrianised walkway running the entire length of the space to a ticket hall. This exciting and optimistic project features no Government money and the commercial support needed to finance it, accounts for the commercial space and shops in the planning. 

Visualisation of an inner courtyard in the proposed extension.

The entire package must now seek the approval of the Lord Mayor of London. Local residents are however restless! The Somers Town Neighbourhood Forum which represents local residents, has expressed concern for the effects of the bulk of the extension on a nearby housing estate and fears that, during the probably extended period of the construction of the extension, that there will be, can be, no community garden, a much-loved present feature. There is, however, a community garden planned and due to open when the extension is eventually complete. The British Library has, meanwhile, offered to make a £23 million contribution to affordable housing in Somers Town. Its chief executive, Roy Keating, says, “This long-planned extension will make it possible for even more people to access and enjoy the library, with a host of flexible new spaces including a new bespoke learning centre and spectacular new exhibition galleries.”

But dealing smoothly with the criticisms of local residents is one thing but there are also vociferous objections to the architecture of the proposed extension from fellow professionals. Lynch Architects director, Patrick Lynch, called the plan,' 'bloody awful”; others labelled it, “an unimaginative office slab” and asked, “How can such a fantastic opportunity end up with such a bloody awful, third-rate wedge of nothing?” The plans involve the demolition of buildings to the north of the Library including the 2007 British Library Centre for Conservation [BLCC] and this particular act has provoked the ire of Docomomo UK, a modernist architectural heritage organisation which insists that the high grade of listing for the BLCC had intended to protect it from such a fate, suggesting that twentieth century listed buildings generally lack conservation parity with architecture of earlier periods. The Twentieth Century Society has also insisted that the BLCC is an integral part of the British Library and must be kept although the BLCC had already been earmarked as a temporary construction compound for the mothballed Crossrail 2 project. Clearly, there is an architectural and conservation battle to be fought before any spade strikes the earth. However, Camden Council’s planning officers believe that the public benefits of the development would outweigh the harm and on this basis, recommended the proposed development for approval.

British Library Centre for Conservation.
Stylish, and built as recently as 2007,
with listed building protection.

In the current climate of strikes, inflation and general gloom as the UK seems to be slipping down all possible tables of national and international achievement, GNP, standard of living, national debt etc, it is immensely moving to read of the idea of this huge and imaginative undertaking. This Grand Extension with its multi-faceted proposals, is a prestigious project on behalf of a library and a nation, by the local Camden Council. The Design War will rage on for some considerable time, but the central idea of extending a huge and important Library in central London, is a testament to the enduring power of the library concept to a nation. The ‘library concept’ may have changed to include digital access, meeting spaces for myriad activities, even commercial outlets, but importantly, it still rests on the central appeal of the almost ageless book and its free access by all citizens.

British Library Piazza.

 

Francis Crick Institute.