Oxford’s Weston Library

Oxford University’s Weston Library, home to some of the nation’s most valuable literary treasures, reopened on 21st March 2015 following an £80m renovation by Wilkinson Eyre.

Part of the University’s world famous Bodleian Library, the Grade Il listed building (formerly the New Bodleian) was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1930s. Situated opposite Nicholas Hawksmoor’s iconic Clarendon Building and Christopher Wren’s exquisite Grade I listed Sheldonian Theatre, its renovation is at the heart of an ambitious period of renewal of the Bodleian’s facilities aimed at safeguarding its vast and unique collection of books and manuscripts.

The project has created high-quality storage for the Libraries’ valuable special collections, which have been preserved for scholarship; developed the Libraries’ space for the support of advanced research; and has expanded public access to its great treasures via its new exhibition galleries and a lecture theatre.

By opening up the building to promote its special collections to the wider public, Wilkinson Eyre has also addressed the building’s identity and related it more closely to its immediate context by improving its perception and approach. Once described as a ‘dinner jacket made of Harris Tweed’, the Weston Library is now successfully connected to the core Bodleian buildings.

With the New Bodleian previously struggling to meet national standards for the storage and exhibition of archival documents, Wilkinson Eyre’s renovation has now provided a safe repository for the nation’s literary treasures. The architects have revised the layout, removing the upper floors of this colossal central stack, and replacing them with a dedicated reading room and suite equipped with the latest research facilities. The threestorey stacks underground have been partially rebuilt and upgraded to modern archival standards, and for the first time, controlled shafts of daylight permeate into the heart of the building.

Oxford University’s Weston Library, Oxford
Program: library
Architects: Wilkinson Eyre
Completion: 2015