Look out for some of the techniques that the architects used in the Entrance Hall to make the building welcoming for visitors.
As the largest public building constructed in 20th-century Britain, architects Sir Colin St. John Wilson, MJ Long and their teams wanted visitors to feel immediately invited as they walked in, rather than taken aback by its sheer scale.
To disguise the building’s true size, the ceiling gradually rises in small increments as you enter in order to ease you inside gently and give you a chance to acclimatise yourself. Only once you reach the centre of the Entrance Hall can you get a full perspective of the height of the Library.
With natural daylight being the main light source in the Entrance Hall, there is a natural transition as you step inside from the Piazza. You can also see this transition at work in the continuation of the outside brickwork and pavement in the Entrance Hall, and the use of natural materials around the building: travertine, oak, leather, brass and ebony. All this blurs the boundaries between the inside and outside.
Listen to what MJ Long had to say about lighting in the Entrance Hall.
Mystery of the empty plinths
On the approach to the escalators, can you spot two empty plinths? Between them, on the floor, are six circles, hinting that something has been removed.
These mark where the original turnstiles into the ‘inner sanctum’ of the Library stood. Only those lucky enough to have a Reader’s Pass could enter past this point.
In the original design, the majority of the building was accessible only to researchers. Learn more about how we’re making intellectual heritage accessible to everyone.
The sound clips on this page are extracts of two extensive interviews with Sir Colin St. John Wilson and MJ Long from National Life Stories’ Architects’ Lives oral history programme.
Proudly powered byWordPress. Theme byWeblizar.