2024-11-23T07:02:10-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/123814576/wilkinson-eyre-renovated-weston-library-at-oxford-now-reopened Justine Testado 2015-03-26T13:58:00-04:00 >2015-04-05T08:49:58-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/v8/v85aehd21lhlkwmi.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Beginning as the New Bodleian Library, the <a href="http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/weston" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Weston Library</a> at Oxford University was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and constructed in the 1930s. Although construction finished in 1940, wartime purposes delayed the building's official opening in 1946. For the most part, the building remained unaltered other than the addition of the Indian Institute as a south-facing roof extension in 1966-69 by architect Robert Potter and other minor changes in 2010. Then in 2011, London-based <a href="http://archinect.com/firms/cover/11712/wilkinson-eyre-architects" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wilkinson Eyre Architects</a> began renovating the Grade II building, which reopened to the public this past weekend.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/1k/1kpjgrtftjgo722q.jpg"></p><p>The &pound;80 million redesign is part of the Bodleian's efforts to better preserve -- and promote -- their vast special collection of books, manuscripts, and other historical objects. In their redesign, Wilkinson Eyre vied to revamp the building's infrastructure while respecting its heritage. As if the collections weren't already enough to gaze in awe at, Wilkinson Eyre also added new reading rooms, r...</p>