West Library

Location: London, UK
Client: Islington Council
Architect: Public Works
Status: In progress (RIBA Stage 4)

 

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Funded by the Carnegie Foundation, West Library was built in 1908 and has been a Grade-II listed building since 1994. It is prominently located on a corner between the busy Caledonian Road (‘The Cally’) and the tranquil surrounds of Thornhill Square, in the Barnsbury Conservation Area.

Project

The refurbishment of West Library is a pilot project within the We Are Cally programme. Led by Islington Council, the scheme is reviewing the use and design of public assets to help boost employability, skills and cohesion within the borough’s communities.

 
 

Brief

West Library needs refurbishing and improving to make the building more accessible and to create a space dedicated to helping young people into work by providing youth training.

All works are within the existing building, with no external changes. As a listed building, the library retains many features of great architectural value, which will need to be preserved while resolving accessibility issues.

As well as West Library, we are also working on the Jean Stokes Community Centre for We Are Cally.

 
 

Challenges

In addition to the technical challenges of refurbishing a listed building, the project involves a long list of stakeholders whose interests must be carefully considered and balanced.

At the same time, the library will remain open and available to the community throughout the entire refurbishment process. This requires liaising closely with the library’s operations team during both the site investigation and construction stages.

Finally, the project must be completed within a small budget.

 
 

Solution

By working closely with all parties, we have been able to propose an optimal structural solution that meets the brief and all requirements within budget. Those involved include:

  • library service users

  • Islington Council

  • lead architect

  • West Library operations team

  • conservation officer

  • planning officer

  • quantity surveyor

We have reached agreements with these stakeholders and secured planning permission. The next step is to produce the information needed to start the building work. 

We are employing an agile approach to keep up with the constantly, and at times rapidly, changing scope in response to each party’s input.

This includes being willing to help when challenges come up, as well as highlighting issues before they become a problem. For example, we raised awareness of the potential risks involved in keeping the site open to the public.