SHELF LIFE

The London Library pounced on the chance to expand its cramped spaces by annexing the 1980s office block next door. Haworth Tompkins’ stylish interventions should keep it going for another 25 years

Words Eleanor Young, Photos Christopher Simon Sykes, Paul Raftery

IN THE CALM timbered entrance hall of the London Library, off St James’s Square, there is little hint of the £18m building project that is reconfiguring the library. Yet beyond taped up doors and behind understated hoardings in narrow temporary corridors squads of workmen are digging out new footings for a staircase and shifting rubble. Drills erupt on the dot of 12 as the contractor makes full use of its two-hour midday power tools slot.

The librarians are construction veterans, with the Anstruther Wing having been completed only in 1995 by Purcell Miller Tritton. In fact the London Library has witnessed numerous building projects throughout its history. The problem has been that ever since moving into the mid-17th century town house in 1845, it has been struggling for space in its grade II listed home. Through various accretions it has expanded through the block to Duke Street behind, building up open access book stacks in two different eras, filling in lightwells, adding mezzanine floors to galleried spaces. It had its eye on potential expansion space in the listed building next door, then the substation in Mason’s Yard beyond which was snapped up by the White Cube art gallery. So when it heard that the neighbouring 1980s office block might be available, it made discreet enquiries before buying it in 2004. There was a collective sigh of relief as the prospect of operating jointly from Swindon (with books stored there) and London was averted for another 25 years.

Haworth Tompkins won a competition in 2004 to analyse the library, its identity, its capacity and future needs. Out of this, alongside a very comprehensive brief from the librarian Inez Lynn who is, in effect, also chief executive, emerged a masterplan. Graham Haworth admits that getting his head round all the pieces of the eight buildings with their 12 layers (including mezzanines) was pretty complex. ‘You needed x-ray spectacles,’ he says. A 3D model in SketchUp had to suffice. The masterplan took into account the acquisition of 8,000 books a year – that’s an extra half a mile of shelves annually – as well as the contorted circulation and idiosyncratic history, balanced against the essentially pragmatic approach of a self-funding private lending library.

The library started by taking a huge risk and commissioning design up to production information (the equivalent of stage F). Drawings were ready to be used for a single one-bit project but the costs of moving out for the duration were prohibitive so in the end a phased approach was chosen instead – there will be four phases in all. Haworth says that an important part of the process was ensuring that early phases didn’t preclude later ones.

The first phase was to integrate the new building – soon re-named TS Eliot House after the poet – past president and funder (posthumously through his estate). This has now been completed. The second phase is potentially the most disruptive. Its primary aim is to restore the historic fabric of J Osborne Smith’s 1898 issue hall and to open up a lightwell and thereby circulation at the centre of the building. This is due for completion in June 2010. Money is still being raised for the third and fourth phases which will give the library a rooftop extension to the 1890s book stacks and a new top level reading and members’ room.

Haworth praises construction manager Mace for the flexibility it has shown working in a ‘non-linear’ manner. Some elements, such as the recently unveiled Times Collection (holding copies of the paper from as far back as 1813) have been handed over early to allow facilities to remain available. Routes that might have been cut off on many projects have been kept open so administration space in the Prevost room can remain in use. This is where the development team sits, with a grand wooden model of the project dominating the otherwise oversized Adam fireplace.

Using a construction management contract was critical to the project, believes Haworth. It meant that Mace was involved from feasibility stages in 2004 looking at phasing and buildability. This, says Haworth, made a huge difference to the smooth running of the project. It has also allowed the design team to react to conditions on site and for the client to develop its evolving brief, responding to the impact of TS Eliot House on the rest of the library, for example.

Future prospects
The integration and restyling of TS Eliot House gives an indication of what to expect from the rest of the project. Clear, logical links with the rest of the buildings have been put in place – luckily without too many level changes. Then there’s the sort of modern but rich and sympathetic language in the library spaces that one would expect from Haworth Tompkins. So, for example, the Times Collection – housed in an old parking space in the basement – has simply detailed, black rolling stacks from Ecospace, deep purple walls and bespoke stained oak reading tables inset with leather. It is hung with delicate Erco Monopol strip lights.

The whole of the 1981 TS Eliot House office, designed by Howard Fairburn Architects, has been restyled. Thanks to its dark brickwork and the interventions, it now looks like a convincing quality building. Projecting Seufort Niklaus window panels disguise the 1980s arches of the windows and work well with the soft brick (the odd carriage light has also been removed). Inside, elements that were once rather feeble have been enhanced by rich materials: the lift has been lined in patinated bronze, the staircase with steel, the underside painted dark bronze with the final touch of a delicate dark timber handrail. On each level the lobby walls are glazed with a translucent paper interlayer.

Loos in the old building were regarded with affection and artist collaborator Martin Creed (yes, he of the lights turning on and off) opted to work on these spaces. He has patched together a mosaic of products, fittings and floor tiles and they create a real element of surprise. In the basement toilets there are 724 tiles of different marbles from Carrera over just 28m2 with various loos and handles that are long, short, curvaceous and round. Another loo uses a mixture of ceramic tiles – all paid for within the building budget, specified by Haworth Tompkins in collaboration with Creed and all replaceable with practically any make.

Now under way, the second phase of restoring the most historic elements of the library has meant transplanted paper catalogues, a temporary cloakroom and space shaved off the issue hall. Stretching over the leather-bound catalogues, the work on the central lightwell is just visible, dust and debris flying around the white glazed tiles. This lightwell is central to creating a legible library – creating a point to orientate around as well as a top-lit booklined space. Extra flights of steps on the two staircases mean there is now top to toe access on both sides of the building, making circulation more rational and obviating the need for readers to cut through the book stacks, losing their bearings as they do. The unglamorous business of shifting the plant room will also help rationalise movement throughout the building, and an extra entrance off Mason’s Yard will further enhance access.

The two spaces in which readers are most likely to find themselves sitting down to enjoy a book are being reordered. The galleries of both were major features in their earlier form. In the 1930s art room, the gallery was cut off by a mezzanine, destroying the loftiness of the double height space. The section and plan of this room was subject to various options, with the client plumping for perhaps the most open of approaches which will reinstate the gallery on either side. Bespoke shelves made of fritted glass illuminated by LEDs will make the room luminesce.

Visual link
The art room is particularly important as it is also the link between TS Eliot House and the rest of the library. It will pick up on the dramatic grilles of the 1890s book stack with a more delicate stainless steel version. As part of phase four in the L-shaped reading room, Haworth Tompkins’ original idea was to open up the space and restore the connections. But the need to separate computer work and quiet reading has been increasingly recognised as the project progressed and so, thanks to the flexibility of the contract, the connection is likely to be restored visually rather than literally. Haworth is convinced that this move will be enough to give it back its elegant proportions. 

The third and fourth phases, for which the library is still pulling together funding, will create entirely new spaces. Climbing onto the roofs of the library, via gentlemen’s loo and fire escape stairs, you can see the potential – the unfilled space. The original envelope was driven by rights of light issues for other properties, which the library now owns, as well as existing buildings. Engineer Price and Myers has calculated that the structure of the 1890s book stacks could take another three storeys (matching the level of the later stacks next to it). The structure will sit on top of the bookshelves themselves (from quarto to octavo and folio) as the original shelves are structural. In fact the only problem will be when the books are removed and the building lifts a couple of inches. Taking their cue from the fantastic steel grilles of the 1890s building, the structure will likewise be prefabricated using small pieces. And of course putting in humidity controls and protecting the books from the light is critical to the project.

For the fourth and last phase Haworth Tompkins is building up again. On top of the 1933/1992 Mason’s Yard extension, the practice fought with the Westminster planners for rooftop access for a terrace, which will be partially enclosed. Leading onto it a members’ room will also give the library a venue for the many book launches and talks it holds – rather than such events requiring hauling furniture around in the reading room. On the top floor a new reading room – its massing defined by set back requirements from Westminster council – will give more shelf and reading space underneath a large clerestory lantern.

In the meantime squeezed users have, surprisingly, complained less about construction noise and disruption and more about their proximity to other readers – with their mobile phones and noisy computer keyboards. But once they are allowed to roam free again they should have expansion space for the next 25 years.

See here for a tour and slide show of the original book stacks.

SELECTED SPECIFICATIONS
Proprietary shelving and rolling racks Eco-space
Bespoke furniture and joinery Tin-Tab
Windows to Eliot House Seufert Niklaus
Art Room stainless steel floor grills Amron Associates
Art Room shelving light fittings Aktiva
Eliot House office lights Louis Poulsen
Eliot House circulation lights Erco Monopol
Eliot House bookstack lights Reggiani

Construction costs
£18,470,000 (all phases excluding purchase costs, professional fees and library costs)