There is something wonderfully contradictory about the Great Court at the British Museum. You step inside, and yet the outside seems to come with you.
It's a marvel that never ceases to surprise or lift me, every time I enter - a destination in itself.
Foster and Partners’ extraordinary glass-and-steel roof, completed as part of the transformation of the Great Court and opened in 2000. The courtyard itself had originally been conceived by Robert Smirke as an open space for promenading, but during the nineteenth century it gradually disappeared with encroaching buildings. When the library moved to St Pancras in 1997, a space lost for nearly 150 years could be reclaimed.
The roof contains 3,312 triangular panes of glass, but, every one is a different shape. The glass is also fritted with tiny dots to reduce solar gain and ultraviolet light, while the structure is designed to expand and contract with changes in temperature.
For me, the magic lies beyond the engineering because it brings the outside in. Within the courtyard, the light changes every second of the day: different aspects of the building are parcelled up within the light matrix.
Connect with me on: Bluesky / Instagram / Facebook / X / Tumblr / Flickr / Vimeo / Pixelfed / Pinterest
Member discussion