The project, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects (WEA), has three aims: to create high quality storage for the Libraries’ valuable special collections, which include the rare and unique manuscripts, books and maps that the Bodleian preserves for the international world of scholarship; to develop the Libraries’ space for the support of advanced research; and to expand public access to its great treasures through new exhibition galleries and other facilities.
Sarah Thomas, Bodley's Librarian, said: "Securing planning permission is an important milestone in this exciting library project. The architects, our Broad Street neighbours, library staff, and countless others have all collaborated in this visionary scheme. We've worked to ensure that the redeveloped building would appeal to academics and scholars but also would contribute to the city as an inviting space to share the Bodleian’s treasures, in dedicated exhibition galleries, with the general public."
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The New Bodleian was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1930s. It was built, essentially, as a huge ‘book fortress’. Wilkinson Eyre Architects has reinterpreted the building to respect its heritage while at the same time modernising the infrastructure; providing better facilities for students and researchers, as well as greater opportunities for collaboration with and outreach to the wider community.
Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the New Bodleian Library is listed Grade II and was completed in 1940. Featuring an innovative design for that time, the building has 11 floors. The three below-ground floors house approximately 50% of the existing bookstacks. The Bodleian Libraries has consulted extensively with English Heritage, preservation groups and the City of Oxford to develop a plan that respects the best aspects of Giles Gilbert Scott's classic 1930s building whilst opening it up to readers and visitors in a sympathetic fashion. A new Upper Floor Reading Room is proposed, which will make a feature of the original Gilbert Scott signature slot window design which will once again become visible through the removal of a 1960s addition to the top of the building.
The renovation of the New Bodleian is part of an integrated strategy to improve the management of and access to the Bodleian Libraries' historic collections. To accommodate the books now housed in the New Bodleian and to provide space for the Libraries' growing collections, the University is constructing a book storage facility in Swindon which will open in late 2010; it also plans to upgrade storage in the underground bookstore under Radcliffe Square to enable direct access to high-use books by readers.
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