Article source: Haworth Tompkins Ltd

The London Library, founded by Thomas Carlyle in 1841, is the world’s largest independent lending library, with over 1,000,000 books and 8,000 members. Since its inception the Library has evolved into a complex amalgam of spaces that originate from a building sited on the north west corner of St James Square. The building has a discrete formal façade that provides a foil for a more aggregative interior. Over the years additional buildings have been annexed to house the ever-growing needs of the Library and its users, including a book stack built in 1922, and an extension to the north built in 1934; the Anstruther Wing housing rare books, was built at the rear of the 1920s book stack in 1995.

Image Courtesy Haworth Tompkins Ltd

• Architects: Haworth Tompkins Ltd
• Project: The London Library
• Location: St James Square, London
• Construction Cost: £18m  (Phased), Phase 1: £3.1M, Phase 2: £6.9M
• Tender Date: Autumn 2004
• Contract Duration: Phase 1-12 Months,  Phase 2- 23 Months
• Completion: Phase 1- September 2007, Phase 2-July 2010
• Gross Internal Area: 1987 m2
• Client: The London Library
• Contractor: Mace
• Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
• Services Engineer: Max Fordham LLP
• Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner and Theobald
• Planning Supervisor: Mace
• Lighting Design: ARUP
• Access Consultant: Babel
• Approved Inspector: Butler & Young
• Construction Manager: Mace
• Artist Collaboration: With Martin Creed

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