British Library

Project Description

The British Library and partner SMBL, a subsidiary of Mitsui Fudosan, have confirmed their £1.1billion new development and extension of the Library’s St Pancras site. Stanhope PLC is the development manager for the project, with designs from architects RSHP and engineers Arup.

Set to be delivered by 2032, the extension project will create new public Library space with expanded galleries and business support facilities, alongside, globally significant capacity for commercial science, innovation, and knowledge industry across a 2.8 acre site. The Library and SMBL development will be a centre for commercial science, data and life sciences, supporting the advancement of science and innovation by forging new connections and facilitating new partnerships.

The UK’s Culture, Science and Technology Minister Sir Chris Bryant said ‘The British Library is one of the greatest British cultural institutions and this funding will see it undergo an ambitious transformation, creating new spaces that will showcase our national story and history.’

Takeshi Iwama, CEO of Mitsui Fudosan UK said, ‘We are confident that the new commercial space at the heart of King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter – and designed by leading international architectural practice RSHP and engineers Arup – will encourage some of the world’s most ambitious and successful life sciences companies to invest in the UK by the early 2030s.’

Real PM’s Role 

From the initial stages of the British Library Extension project, Real PM delivered a detailed development programme which was expertly created based on construction activity take-offs and historical data in order to deliver a robust construction programme.

Our role subsequently expanded into providing a fully integrated development programme including Design, planning submission, procurement, and key client stage gates / approvals sub-programmes. From the development programme, a detailed planning submission programme from initial concept to final discharge of 106 deliverables was developed and implemented to manage and control the process.

The planning application was further supported by Real PM with the production of Construction and Environmental Management Plans, including detailed vehicle movement routing and number modelling.

Post-planning Real PM will assist with the strategic programme and procurement of this exciting mixed-use life science, commercial and cultural development.