Finsbury Library, London

May 5, 2023 In Libraries

Originally meant as the central library of the former Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, this library was relegated to branch status upon its opening in 1967, following the creation of the London Borough of Islington. Consequently, the program for the building, designed by Carl Ludwig Franck, was on par with its intended status as a cultural centre, with a lecture hall, communal kitchen, craft workshops, several meeting rooms and a rooftop garden.

The importance of the new library was also tied to the history of the building it was replacing, the former Clerkenwell library on Skinner street (now demolished), known as “the first modern library in Great Britain” for its revolutionary use of open shelving in 1894.

Exterior of a Modernist library, a gently curving facade clad in teal, burgundy and black ceramic tiles with concrete aggregate panels. At the forefront is a porte cochère with steel letters reading "St John Street".
Library entrance on St. John Street, whose curve is matched by the building.
Exterior of a Modernist library, with a gently sloping flat roof, and a glass, brick and concrete facade. Through the glass, the curve of the interior ceiling is visible.
The space underneath the library is occupied by the Islington Museum.

The main facade of the library on St. John Street sports a row of thin columns clad in teal mosaic tiles, supporting the overhanging second floor, whose square windows alternate with panels of dark mosaic and concrete aggregate. The entrance, announced by a porte cochère, leads to the expansive open floor of the library, coiffed by a shallow, barrel-vaulted ceiling pierced by rectangular light wells.

Interior of a modern library, with a gently curving ceiling and a large window. Colourful contemporary furniture line the window.
The regular arrangement of fans on the north window turns a mechanical necessity into decorative elements.
Interior of a modern library, with a gently curving ceiling and a large window at the back.
The curves in the furniture arrangement match that of the ceiling.
Exterior of a Modernist library, a gently curving facade clad in teal, burgundy and black ceramic tiles with concrete aggregate panels. At the forefront is a porte cochère with steel letters reading "St John Street".
Blue, red and dark grey glass mosaic tiles provide visual rhythm to the facade.
Interior of a modern library, with a gently curving ceiling and a large window at the back.
Open shelves, now commonplace, were first introduced in the forerunner to the Finsbury Library in 1894.

The images shown here date from my brief visit in July 2022.

References

Black, A. (2017). Finsbury Public Library (1967). In Libraries of light: British public library design in the long 1960s (pp. 152–155). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Spa Green to Skinner Street. (2008). In P. Temple (Ed.), Survey of London (Vols. 47, Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville, pp. 84–108). British History Online.



Content note

Library detail pages are primarily a place for me to collect information I gather on the libraries I visit, and are frequently updated. None of this should be considered authoritative, I am not an architect, nor a historian. If you notice something incorrect, please let me know!



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