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Architects: MICA
- Area: 2687 m²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:Jim Stephenson, Fisher Studios
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Manufacturers: Aktiva, Ecospace, Glasbau Hahn, MAP Diffuser, Optima
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Structural Engineer: Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners, Eckersley O’Callaghan
Text description provided by the architects. We have completed a major underground extension to, and refurbishment of The Queen’s College Library in Oxford. The 17th Century Library is considered one of the nest existing in Oxford, both in terms of its collection and grand building, although has long been overused and overcrowded. The new Library provides an additional 800m2 of space (doubling its size) and includes a new light-filled reading room; an archive for Queen’s historic Antiquarian collection; a new Peet library of Egyptology and a multi- purpose room for collaborative learning. The new Library sits beneath a new garden set at a subtle slope providing a new continuous rooflight into the slope of a Ha-Ha. The new rooflight brings light and extraordinary views to the spaces below. The existing Library has been liberated by the extra space and has been able to be returned to its existing arrangement and grandeur providing a single generous entrance to all three library levels.
