Overview
The British Library is redeveloping its 44-acre site at Boston Spa in West Yorkshire to create much-needed storage capacity for the UK national collection. The library is currently home to more than three-quarters of the library’s collection of over 170 million items, but it is anticipated that by 2030, the current storage facilities will be completely full.
To address this, a new 28m high, 5274m2 state-of-the-art building is being constructed.
The new building will provide 220km of extra space, using an automated storage and retrieval system to accommodate part of the national collection. These shelving units equate to the distance of London to Manchester.
The new archive is designed to be low-energy, airtight, and Passivhaus certified, featuring passive climate control and an oxygen depletion fire suppression system instead of sprinklers.
The project includes a new public viewing gallery to enable visitors to see the robotic storage system in action.
Landscaping will also be undertaken around the site to make the most of the natural environment, improving green spaces to support biodiversity and enhance the natural environment.
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