“Thirty-five years of planning, controversy and bitter recriminations” is what has been written about the British Library two years before its opening in 1998. Designed due to an Act of Parliament in 1972, decreeing the combination of six different archives. The building, designed by Colin St John Wilson and MJ Long, was constructed amid conflict over its construction. At the time, Wilson was first invited to create a design based in Bloomsbury, but financial and spatial reasons led to a move to St Pancras. The conflict over spending government money to create the library building was felt on many sides. Traditionalists like the Regular Reader's Group mourned the loss of the Bloomsbury Reader's Room and disparaged St Pancras Library throughout its construction: "Eighteen years on, the grand intentions lie in tatters." Futurists predicted the technological age and subsequent obsolescence of the library, and declared it a waste of taxes. Indeed, the scale of the final building proposal was costly and as a result the design had to be divided into three phases, of which ultimately only the first was built. Wilson and Long drew heavily on the English free school tradition, promoted by William Morris and John Ruskin. This organic tradition was described by Ruskin as "the only rational architecture...that which can be most easily integrated into all services, vulgar or noble." It reflects “form follows function” and, from the earliest stages, Wilson designed for function. The layout of the building is dictated by this: reading rooms requiring daylight are placed at the top of the buildings, while exhibition rooms, which do not need it, are located on the ground floor. The ceilings follow the same concept, the architect's main concerns are the access of natural light to the building, which is why the shape of the ceiling is accompanied by skylights and clerestories. It also conforms to this organic school of thought by using natural materials with their own finishes like marble or bronze. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Public entry to the British Library is through the entrance hall, which opens onto a view of the main hall organized around the imposing central King's Court. Library. This is the only public entrance, with two entrances from the roads surrounding the site to the square. The entrance to the square before entering inside the building creates a certain calm for the viewer and separates them from the frenetic roads of central London. This first look at the interior of the building is vital, as it is the viewer's first experience of the interior and the atmosphere that Wilson is attempting to create. The scale of the building from the entrance is enormous and could be intimidating to a visitor, but the space is not intimidating, but draws the visitor in. The intimidating effect of ceiling height is lessened by increasing the ceiling height. in stages, from the bottom of the threshold to the high ceiling in the center of the room. In this wave-patterned ceiling, clerestories and skylights allow natural light to filter through to the entryway and cast patterns of light on the walls. This gradual increase in ceiling height makes the space attractive, and the scale then allows the visitor to "instantly see the general distribution of the building's elements, as well as the route or entry point to all major destinations ". The visitor can alsosee people using the space at all levels, creating a feeling of activity. These views of others in this space increase an atmosphere of interconnectivity and openness in the building, signifying the openness and access to knowledge facilitated by the library. This immense space is interrupted by two bridges crossing the hall, they connect the east and west wings of the building which flank the main hall. These bridges “affirm the “normal” dimension of the height of the ground” to the viewer, which gives them a feeling of uniformity in this colossal space. Beyond these bridges are the King's Library and the spaces used within the library, with light levels decreasing as you progress through the main hall. In the main hall, the King's Library reinforces the feeling of space, this tower of rare books seems eternal. The separation between these spaces and the square by a large space bathed in daylight creates a transitional space between the square and the main library. While the main hall is open to the public, the eleven different reading rooms provide a more private space. Wilson believed in "the paramount importance that [architects] attached to natural light as a source of ambient light wherever possible." Even within the reading rooms, this creates a pleasant work space. Because reading rooms are used for long-term studies, the natural light filtered into the room constantly varies, eliminating “the threat of monotony” to the reader. Ceilings facilitate the introduction of natural light, especially in the humanities and map reading rooms. A three-story room, with each level stepping away to create variations of double or triple height spaces, this room does a brilliant job of naturally lighting multiple floors and creating a variety of spaces in which to work. The suspended ceiling in the Humanities Reading Rooms uses clerestories and roof lanterns installed in the sloping roof of the building to maximize daylight reaching all levels of the room, then the roof slopes up to the ground to allow light to reach the ground. without creating shadows. The added benefit of this ceiling light means that it allows the ground floor walls of each floor to be used for books and maximize free access to books. Changing light levels across floors, whether you're within reach of natural light from above or sheltered from the projecting upper floors, provide a variety that Bloomsbury's reading rooms failed to achieve to offer. On the ceiling of the single-height spaces between floors, “direct fluorescent lights are evenly spaced” that provide constant background lighting to work with. In other reading rooms, similar methods are used to achieve the effect of natural light. In the African and Asian studies room, skylights located above head height, enjoying the same advantage in terms of material storage space on the walls, produce the same effect and space of the ceiling is then used for ventilation. In the science reading room, there is a triple height space connecting the three floors because “the working comfort of the readers was worth a certain loss of floor space” between all the floors of the reading room creates two balconies above above the first floor. which are reflected on the opposite wall with double height windows. This aspect of natural light is crucial and best introduced through ceiling elements, it gives the workspace an organic sense and makes the atmosphere more comfortable and less harsh while you work. During the..