St Pancras
Transforming our iconic home in London
Our St Pancras site is one of the great public buildings of the last century, designed to bring together the national collection for the first time to facilitate new research and discoveries.
Since then, what it means to be a national library has changed. 1.2 million people visit us each year – more families, young people, entrepreneurs, cultural visitors and creatives than ever before. To continue our journey towards being a more welcoming and inclusive space for everyone, creating new opportunities for local communities, we’re expanding so that 500,000 more people a year can enjoy:
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spectacular new galleries and event spaces that host larger and more creative exhibitions than ever before and a rich programme of cultural events
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a reimagined and enlarged permanent gallery, free and open to everyone, that displays some of the most historically and culturally significant items in human history
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a new, additional entrance to make the building more welcoming and entice everyone to come in and explore, with an open foyer space that shows everything we’ve got to offer and provides new places to work and socialise
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new garden courtyards and walkways that will provide a haven for visitors to relax and reflect, adding vital new green spaces to the area as well as improvements to our existing piazza
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a new learning centre and expanded programme which will support thousands of learners of all ages through school visits, workshops and community events
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a business and innovation space with an expanded programme of support for 50% more SMEs and entrepreneurs, including a dedicated maker space to enable founders to test emerging concepts
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new cafes and restaurants and spaces for hire, creating additional revenue streams to help us power this expanded programme of work.
This ground-breaking new building will be a landmark in London. As well as new Library spaces, this development will create an additional 60,000 sq ft of world-class space for commercial science, data and life sciences, providing income to bolster the Library’s financial resilience and further supporting the regeneration of the King’s Cross area. It will build on the British Library as a major hub for research located at the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter and support the advancement of science and innovation by forging new connections and facilitating new partnerships between our collection, expert staff and institutions in the area.
We’re seeking the support of visionary philanthropists and partners to bring this incredible new building to life with state-of-the-art spaces and programmes for culture, research and business support. For more information about how you can help us transform our buildings and the lives of the people around them, please contact our Development team at supporters@bl.uk.