The British Library

The British Library opened on its new site at St Pancras, London in 1998. No other construction project in Britain since the building of St Paul’s Cathedral has been comparable in its timescale – nor, it has sometimes seemed, in the magnitude of controversy surrounding it. The principal architect, Professor Sir Colin St John Wilson, has spent the greater part of his working life on it. Starting in 1962, blessed with the advice that ‘this job may take some time,’ he and his colleagues devised three full designs on two completely different sites over a period of 36 years. Throughout, he maintained a commitment to the very highest quality in all aspects of a national library designed with the interests of readers paramount, and built to last 250 years. Since it opened, the acclaim of countless readers has confirmed the success of the project. Colin St John Wilson narrates the complex history of the project, before explaining the design priorities he and his team pursued – including the inspiration of the organic tradition, the use of natural light, and the importance of symbolic form – and how they were implemented in the building. Featuring photographs commissioned by the British Library and drawings from the author’s personal archives, this is a fascinating account of one of the most important buildings in modern British architecture.