Imperial College London Refurbishment

The Central Library development – study spaces and more Angus S. Brown - Team Leader for Public Services a.brown@imperial.ac.uk May 2009

Imperial College London Imperial College London: Established in 1907 World class research and teaching in science, engineering, medicine and management

Our College staff 8,200 staff • 3,000 academic and research staff • 3,000 support staff • 1,700 honorary staff • 700 academic visitors and visiting researchers

Our students 13,000 students • 8,300 undergraduates • 2,200 taught postgraduates • 2,500 research postgraduates Courses • 111 undergraduate courses • 124 postgraduate taught courses

An international institution Students from 123 countries Top non-UK countries: • China • Singapore • Malaysia • Italy • Greece • Nigeria • France • Cyprus • Germany • India 75% increase in overseas students in 5 years 32% of staff non-UK nationals

Our standing World University Rankings • 3rd in Europe 6th in World overall Times Good University Guide 2008 • 3rd in UK

The library services • 13 libraries ( 8 in July 2009) • 126 fte Staff (c 150 people) • 440,871 Books • 1876 Reader spaces (1090 in Central Library)

Introducing the project • Why, who and how much ? • Timescale • Design and planning • Highs and lows • Completion and celebrating success • Reflection and future aspirations

Why ? Improve and renew the Central Library placing it at the heart of the campus by – • creating flexible study and learning space • Increasing study space numbers • extending IT access and provision • incorporating social interaction space • managed by a united public services team • Improving air handling and potential to extend scheme on upper floors What’s right for you institution ? What do your users need ? How do you find out ?

Who ? • College Project Board • AEM – our architects • Library project team • FSS – library faculty support and services • Public Services team – issue , help and ILL • Core text staff • Library disability officer • Student survey Who needs to be involved ? Will they have an influence ? How do you communicate the planning process?

How much ? Overall budget £11 Million : split equally between service tower and level 1 refurbishment Increase of 1800 square metres on the ground floor, offering - • 90 new PCs and wireless throughout • 150 group study spaces • 150 individual study spaces (including teaching space) • 110 café spaces Costs at the time – but remember future recurrent costs too – e.g. more cleaning

Timescale • March 2006 – money confirmed • July 2006 – external building work starts on service tower • October 2006 – meetings with architects • January 2007 – internal work begins • May – August 2007 – detailed design work on staff areas • March – April 2008 – interior design work complete • June 2008 – level one handed over / furniture arrives • July 2008 – level 1 reopens Don’t wait – start thinking now – it isn’t too soon to dream, but it can be too late!

Highs and lows •Fast design process – 3 months to sign off overall design •Building delays •Staff rise to challenge •Periods of planning quiet – staff anxiety •Periods of building noise – student anxiety •Working with the architects •Learning a new language Keep communicating, remember to keep records – before, during and after Build good relationships with your contractors !

Design and planning Learn about scale ! Measure things out in real space.

Entrance area

Library Café - then Accept perfection won’t last

Library café - now Success can be messy and untidy.

Service points The most difficult bit of the design – work out your workflows first – and stick to them!

Mobile zone Yes they will move the furniture – use some anchored tables to keep things in place.

Think tanks 6 meeting cubes, each with a single PC and a large screen monitor

Wolfson IT Learning suite 50 individual PCs, 3 bookable group study rooms, 3 library training rooms

A year on – time to reflect • Reviewing the project hugely important • November 2008 paper survey • March 2009 student focus groups • Snagging and improvements ongoing • Air handling issues • Wire management • Main entrance Measuring success • Library activities up by 1/3 • Promotion, publicity and interest

Thank you and any questions ?

Imperial College London Refurbishment

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