British Library Joins 'New Extension' Bandwagon

M@
By M@ Last edited 179 months ago
British Library Joins 'New Extension' Bandwagon

britlib.jpg
By M@

You wait all year for a new extension, and then three come along at once. Well, actually, you probably do no such thing, but it's the expected way to start a blog post when several instances of a sufficiently rare thing happen on the same day. Now, where were we? Oh yes. The British Library will be subjected to the masterplanning know-how of Sir Terry Farrell. The talent behind the MI6 building at Vauxhall, the rebirth of the Royal Institution, and the love-hate postmodernism of Charing Cross Station has won the contract to rework the ho-hum brick behemoth on Euston Road. Farrell will submit his plans, thought to include extensions to the building, in September. The library is only 12 years old, but already finds itself too small for the number of keen readers seeking its resources. If the plans go ahead, the land north of Euston Road will get even more crowded with cranes and site offices. As well as Argent's decade-long regeneration of the railway lands, the plot immediately behind the library is earmarked for a new biomedical research centre. The good people of Somers Town might want to invest in dust masks and ear plugs.

Last Updated 02 April 2009