Designed by Sir Colin St John Wilson with 120,000m2 of space over 14 floors, the new British Library would be the largest public building constructed in the UK in the 20th century. Arup's team developed their finite element computer programme, SAFE, to model and test how the foundations would behave.

To ensure long term viability and relevance, many libraries are diversifying the services they offer, becoming innovative spaces that support new ways of learning, storing and accessing information. They’re also increasingly used for community and cultural events.

Our approach combines real understanding of what local users need, and a library’s own history and collection, before developing cost-effective but inspiring design solutions.

Arup has worked on prestigious libraries worldwide including the British Library London, the largest national library in the world, a building that presented complex underground, structural and acoustics challenges, and housing 120 million books and print items.