Bodleian Libraries
Architect: WilkinsonEyre
Curating a timeless home fit for the Magna Carta, Shakespeare’s First Folio, and all Great Works thereafter at Bodleian Libraries.
Be not afraid of greatness
Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries need no introduction. To be tasked with transforming one part of ‘the Bod’ — one of the oldest libraries in Europe — was to follow in the footsteps of the Greats.
Timeless innovation
Timeless innovation — a juxtaposition we wanted to solve. As home of the Bodleian Libraries’ special collections, the Weston Library needed a timeless design — an elegant canvas in which the pages do the talking.
Let’s start with the ground floor information desk. It’s made from honed Jura limestone — like the paving — with gilded aged bronze cladding. Previously a four storey book stack, it’s now a vaulting, open area remaining faithful to Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s original design.
Moving through, at almost three metres high and five long, we ensured the treasures of the Blackwell Collection could rest in a home as elegant as it is secure — in solid oak with bronzed metal glazed doors.
But as a working library, research centre, and Centre for Digital Scholarship, the library design also needed to encourage innovation.This is where the breathtaking roof-level reading room — the only new build element — comes into its own.
Reading the room
Like all Great Works, the devil is in the details — but it has to look effortless.
Take our reading desks, for example. A total of 80 historic desks were adapted for cable management and lighting. Those with gaps on the end plinth can be raised or lowered for wheelchair users, and cable management is push button operated. To ensure flow, the desk under-chamfer corresponds with the angle on its arms, allowing them to tuck cleanly underneath.
When prototyping, the research material was always front of mind. Foam wedges were added to support fragile spines, and some desks were made extra wide for maps. And all you see on first read is an elegant European oak desk collection with a flush lino inset. The central bands, cable management flaps, and unobtrusive LED strip lighting gantry are subtly finished with a wax bronze.
Passing the test
Altogether, we worked on more than 200 separate items. We were guided by solving a juxtaposition — to create a home fit for today’s advanced research while preserving the library’s timeless treasures.
Our prototypes were up for rigorous scrutiny by the library authorities. And we passed the test.
