It’s been a while since our last post here but finally we have some exciting news to share concerning the renovation of the Institute of Historical Research. The Senate House Phase 4 renovation is proceeding at pace and the designs and plans have now been developed and approved for the new IHR. As the plan below shows we will be returning to an area covering the basement and the first three levels of the North Block. Overall, the space envelope remains the same but the space use will be quite different and we will of course be modernised whilst also maintaining the kind of atmosphere that you value.
Over the coming months we will look in-depth at various elements of the new IHR design including the new conference suite; research training room; common room and library layout. This week we shall begin with the basement which, in its previous life, was the gloomy underbelly of the IHR holding some portions of the library and a line of rather ancient photocopiers, members’ lockers, and storage.
The image below shows the design layout for the new basement featuring a state of the art conference suite, exhibition space, and three rooms retained for the library. Of all the re-design elements it is here that we are making some of the most significant improvements.
With thanks to BDP for images and plans