16 years between the laying of the foundation stone in 1982 and the opening in 1998. The explains the delay: "The reason it has taken so long to build ... has relatively little to do with the competence, or otherwise, of architect and contractors. The project has been toyed with by successive governments. The building was designed for a different site in Bloomsbury. Time was wasted when it had to be redesigned to fit the eventual site alongside St Pancras Station. Successive governments have trimmed the budget. Each time they have done so, Colin St John Wilson and his team have had to redesign parts of the building."
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
British Library
Commemorated ati
British Library- Foundation Stone
The British Library H.R.H. The Prince of Wales unveiled this stone 7 Decembe...
Opening of the British Library
This inscription is opposite the entrance, below the Shakespeare statue.
This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
British Library
Creations i
British Library - Anne Frank
The tree itself is almost entirely lost, half buried in a modern planting sch...
Other Subjects
Great Exhibition
From the V&A website: "The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. It was the first international exhibition of manufacture...
13 memorials
Sir John Soane, R.A. F.R.S.
Architect and collector. Born in Goring-on-Thames, son of a bricklayer. Architect of the Bank of England, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, St. John’s, Bethnal Green and his own tomb. He also rebuilt mu...
7 memorials
British Film Institute
In 1996 the BFI erected 126 plaques across Britain to commemorate the centenary of cinema. See the pdf.
18 memorials
David Copperfield Children's Library
Founded by the American Rev. J. Brett Langstaff. Â The picture is from 1947. The New York Times, 19 March 1922 carries a letter reporting on a performance of a play for the benefit of this library....
1 memorial
Victoria & Albert Museum
The South Kensington Museum opened on this site in 1857. It expanded and was renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1899. A further expansion by Aston Webb opened in 1909. Also see Francis Fow...
4 memorials
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