{"id":779683,"date":"2025-03-20T10:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T10:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=779683"},"modified":"2025-03-21T13:40:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T13:40:33","slug":"rshps-1-1bn-british-library-expansion-to-start-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/rshps-1-1bn-british-library-expansion-to-start-next-year","title":{"rendered":"RSHP\u2019s long-awaited \u00a31.1bn British Library expansion to start next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tokyo-based real estate company Mitsui Fudosan confirmed on Wednesday (19 March) that it will fund the \u00a31.1 billion project.<\/p>\n

Work to deliver the development will be able to proceed \u2018as soon as possible\u2019, according to the company. Detailed design will start now and initial works are scheduled to begin in 2026 for an estimated completion in 2032.<\/p>\n

The massive extension to Colin St John Wilson and MJ Long\u2019s 1997 landmark, which RSHP designed alongside Arup as engineers, was approved by Camden council in July 2024, despite concerns over its height and bulk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RSHP had won the the high-profile job seven years before, when it and Stanhope with Mitsui Fudosan were selected following a developer-led competition back in 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The extension will see two blocks built north of the main British Library building, creating a new home for the Alan Turing Institute and nearly 10,000m2<\/sup> of library facilities, as well as additional life sciences and office space. Long & Kentish\u2019s 16-year-old conservation centre will be demolished to make way for a 12-storey building next to the Francis Crick Institute.<\/p>\n

The extension will provide 9,290m\u00b2 extra <\/span>library spaces for \u2018culture, learning, research and business\u2019 uses, including doubling existing gallery space, to enable \u2018hundreds of thousands\u2019 more visitors to be admitted each year.<\/p>\n

It will also include around 55,800m\u00b2 of commercial life sciences space, for occupants \u2018seeking to locate close to the Francis Crick Institute, Alan Turing Institute and the rich mix of other organisations located in London\u2019s Knowledge Quarter\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The extension will be linked to the existing library building via new circulation areas, including a new full-height foyer and new public entrances.<\/p>\n

It will \u2018open up the library\u2019 across three sides and include new, publicly accessible internal and external routes connecting the building to Somers Town and St Pancras. DSDHA has worked on the landscaping and public realm for the project.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the agreement, the British Library will grant a long lease of the land to SMBL, its development partner, which will now become fully owned by Mitsui Fudosan as part of a restructuring of the investment partnership. Stanhope continues as development manager for the project.<\/p>\n

Takeshi Iwama, chief executive of Mitsui Fudosan UK, said: \u2018Our development commitment represents what we believe to be one of the largest single real estate investments into London by a Japanese company to date.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have already acquired significant expertise in the life sciences sector across Japan and the US over almost a decade and will be bringing this to the British Library extension development, our first in this sector in Europe.\u2019<\/p>\n

Iwama added that the company was confident that the new life sciences space in King\u2019s Cross \u2018will encourage some of the world\u2019s most ambitious and successful life sciences companies to invest in the UK by the early 2030s\u2019.<\/p>\n

Culture, science and technology minister Chris Bryant said: \u2018The British Library is one of the greatest British cultural institutions and this funding will see it undergo an ambitious transformation, creating new spaces that will showcase our national story and history.<\/p>\n

\u2018The creation of a new world-class commercial science and innovation space in London\u2019s Knowledge Quarter will also help encourage investment in this vital sector in the UK. I look forward to seeing how this major development will benefit the local community and beyond, supporting growth and innovation.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rebecca Lawrence, chief executive of the British Library, said: \u2018Our partnership with Mitsui Fudosan will enable us to fulfil our long-held vision to extend the Library\u2019s site in St Pancras.<\/p>\n

\u2018The plans will open up the library even further, creating an expanded national library with state-of-the-art new spaces, harnessing the power of collaboration to build a new public realm linking communities and the Knowledge Quarter and deliver significant investment in the UK.\u2019<\/p>\n

The British Library has confirmed it will be \u2018seeking the support of visionary philanthropists and partners\u2019 to fund the internal fit-out of new spaces.<\/p>\n

The development agreement includes a \u00a323 million contribution towards affordable housing in the area, commitment to affordable workspaces, including \u2018incubator desks\u2019 within the Library\u2019s new business spaces, and a new community garden on Ossulston Street.<\/p>\n

RSHP\u2019s initial proposals sparked anger from conservation groups<\/a> over the planned demolition of the existing \u00a313 million conservation centre building, designed by British Library co-architect Long & Kentish and only completed in 2007.<\/p>\n

Revised plans unveiled in 2021<\/a>\u00a0proposed pulling back the new building from the western edge of the site to reduce the impact on the residents of Somers Town, Ossulston Street and Levita House, as well as Midland Road.<\/p>\n

Historic England said during the consultation phase that RSHP\u2019s scheme would still cause \u2018some harm\u2019 to the surrounding heritage assets but that it supported the designs and relocation of the conservation centre\u2019s collection into the heart of the main British Library building.<\/p>\n

The scheme aims to \u2018complete\u2019 original architects Colin St John Wilson and MJ Long\u2019s intention for the wider library site and the 1.2ha plot to the north of the existing 1997 library, using private developers rather than public funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tokyo-based real estate company Mitsui Fudosan confirmed on Wednesday (19 March) that it will fund the \u00a31.1 billion project. Work to deliver the development will be able to proceed \u2018as soon as possible\u2019, according to the company. Detailed design will start now and initial works are scheduled to begin in 2026 for an estimated completion …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138919,"featured_media":779692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[2046,4834,1206,1430],"yoast_head":"\nRSHP\u2019s long-awaited \u00a31.1bn British Library expansion to start next year<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RSHP\u2019s long-awaited plans to extend the Grade I-listed British Library in London are back on track after a Japanese investor agreed to finance the scheme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/rshps-1-1bn-british-library-expansion-to-start-next-year\" \/>\n<meta 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