Built in 1857, the Round Reading Room sits at the heart of the Great Court in the British Museum. It served as the primary reading room of the British Library until 1997, when the library relocated to its new home in St Pancras.
Since then, the space has been closed to the public, repurposed as an archive. The Museum aimed to reopen it for public access and host out-of-hours events. To facilitate this, a section of the original desks was removed, creating an open floor area, and a new emergency exit corridor was introduced.
We identified three key objectives for the lighting design: enhancing ambient lighting in the newly accessible public space, illuminating the historic bookcases while preserving their integrity, and providing emergency lighting for the newly constructed escape corridor.
Given the building’s Grade I listed status, our approach required a highly sensitive lighting solution to preserve its historical fabric. To minimise impact, no penetrations, screws, or drilling were used in the installation of new luminaires. Steensen Varming collaborated closely with Wright & Wright Architects and the Museum’s technical team, developing a series of prototypes and mock-ups to refine the final solution.
For the spotlights, we designed a custom U-shaped bracket that mounts onto the existing bookcases, secured using dowels threaded through pre-existing shelving holes. Cable reticulation runs discreetly behind the bookcases, ensuring it remains hidden and does not alter the original aesthetic. This approach allows the luminaires to be easily removed without leaving any marks or permanent alterations.
The linear luminaires used to uplight the bookcases are positioned on the balcony floors and secured with weighted plates. Since the bookcases and balconies are not accessible to the public, the luminaires remain unobtrusive. The conservation team specified the illumination level to minimise degradation to the books.
Emergency luminaires are mounted using the same U-shaped brackets as the spotlights and are non-maintained, ensuring minimal impact on the space’s overall look and feel.
To maintain visual consistency, all specified luminaires feature a custom RAL finish that complements the materiality of the existing bookcases.
A Casambi lighting control system was introduced to automate lighting schedules, turning luminaires on and off at preset times. A wireless switch at the reception desk allows staff to select pre-programmed lighting scenes based on different scenarios. The Museum’s archival team has responded positively, appreciating the ability to dim lights for viewing delicate items, while the events team can tailor lighting scenes for talks or networking sessions. Future plans include integrating daylight sensors into the Casambi system to automatically adjust dimming levels based on natural light conditions.
