BDP were appointed to undertake a Masterplan for the UCL Main Library and the
UCL Science Library and to identify how these buildings could be re-ordered to
significantly improve the quality of the library environment and to facilitate the
delivery of library services.
An initial brief was agreed with UCL’s Estates Management Committee and a
Masterplan Steering Group established including academic representatives,
library staff and design consultants. To inform the development of this brief, UCL
Library Services undertook a number of consultation exercises with users of the
Library; students, academic staff and external users, together with Library staff.
A number of visits to exemplar library buildings in the UK and continental Europe
were also undertaken to inform the development of options for the buildings.
Following the development and review of initial options for both the Main Library
and Science Library, it was agreed a further, hypothetical New Build Central
Library Option should be reviewed, to accommodate a relocated and consolidated
library service encompassing 7 of the 16 existing libraries currently distributed
across the UCL Estate
