The visit will be led by Helen Hancock, a Senior Associate at Wright & Wright Architects
“Opened in 2020 and designed by award-winning architects Wright & Wright, this building is a significant new addition to London’s civic architecture. Lambeth Palace Library is the first new building on the site for 185 years and hosts the Church of England’s archive – the most important collection of religious books, manuscripts, and archives in Europe, after the Vatican.
The building is a sensitive yet distinctly modern architectural addition to the site of the Grade I listed Lambeth Palace. Nestling in amongst mature trees at the north end of the palace’s garden, the building sits on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Parliament.
The location preserves the collection’s historic link to the Palace, while increasing public access to the Library. In the new building, the historic collections of Lambeth Palace Library – founded in 1610 and one of the earliest public libraries in the UK - and the records of the Church of England will be brought together, replacing inadequate facilities in a warehouse in Bermondsey, that risked the future of the collection.
The contemporary redbrick building has four and five-storey wings, rising to a nine-storey central tower, crowned by a viewing platform that will be periodically open to the public. The central tower is designed to register on London’s skyline, aligning it with historical architectural commissions by Archbishops of Canterbury over the centuries, and reflecting the national significance of the collection. In tandem, the viewing platform, which has direct sight lines across the Thames to the Palace of Westminster, reinforces the connection between the Church and the State embodied in the collection.”
Travel Tip from Blackheath: Train to Waterloo station then a 12 min walk to Lambeth Palace Road. Meet at the front foor of the new library building, by Archibishop’s Park, at 10.15am
Please book your place. Tickets £15 from Eventbrite.
