BL submits big plans


THE British Library and its devel- opment partners have submitted a planning application for a proposed extension to connect its site more closely with the local community and provide new public spaces for those living and working in St Pancras. Designed by architects Rogers Stirk Har- bour + Partners, the extension will include flexible and collaborative spaces to for the changing needs of library users. It will also include enhanced facilities to support any- one starting or growing new businesses


through the library’s Business & IP Centre. The extension is also designed to provide space for organisations and businesses seeking to build relationships with other Knowledge Quarter research institutions near the library such as the Francis Crick Institute and The Alan Turing Institute. The building’s design will actively foster interaction between these different uses by blending research and commerce with the library and the wider community. In a blog post, Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library gives


more detail, including the library’s decision to partner with the private developers in order to expand without using public funds. He said: “We were keenly aware that


some forms of public-private partnership have not always had a successful history, in the cultural sector and elsewhere, especially in cases where risk is underwritten by the public partner, or public facilities are oper- ated by private companies. In the end, we developed an approach which responded to the very particular situation we found ourselves in.”


April-May 2022


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 9


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