Shakespeare’s Globe is delighted to announce the opening of their new Research & Collections centre, designed by Allies and Morrison, as London’s only dedicated Shakespeare library and archive fully open and accessible to the public.
Research has been a priority for Shakespeare’s Globe since the founder Sam Wanamaker commissioned an academic team to conduct one of the largest scale arts and humanities research projects of the 1980s and 90s: the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s 1599 Globe Theatre, and experts continue to work side-by-side with artists in an ongoing exploration of Shakespeare’s world and works.
The spaces of the Research & Collections Centre include the Audre D. Carlin Reading Room which includes access to over six thousand books about Shakespeare, early modern literature and culture, and the history of dramatic performance across the world. The Performance Archive will also be publicly accessible by appointment and includes all the documents of production generated in making work at Shakespeare’s Globe, as well as the digital archive of performance – recordings of productions, public talks, workshops, and events.
Shakespeare’s Globe’s library of original Renaissance texts, housed in the John Wolfson Rare Book Room, remains the closest resemblance to Shakespeare’s bookshelf and houses nearly five hundred 16th and 17th century plays, poems, novellas, treatises, and works of history, philosophy and religion, beautifully preserved.
Visitors will be able to book either morning or afternoon slots to attend the Audre D. Carlin Reading Room via the Shakespeare’s Globe website from today.
In addition, the development also features the state-of-the-art Wolfson Lecture Theatre, a climate-controlled secure archive store, and the new Weston Foyer lined with display cases that highlight some of the most fascinating objects in the institutional and artistic archives which hundreds of school pupils and university students have already accessed as part of Shakespeare’s Globe commitment to making scholarship and expert knowledge accessible to all.
Shakespeare’s Globe remains the only theatre in the world to house a diverse cohort of resident scholars with an international reach, and a major intellectual partner in King’s College London, with which the Shakespeare Centre London is jointly run.
Dr Will Tosh, Director of Education at Shakespeare’s Globe, says: “Our new Research & Collections Centre is a stunning, welcoming home at the heart of the Globe for curious visitors of all ages. I’m incredibly proud that we’re able to open a new library at a time when the arts and humanities are facing unprecedented pressure, and I’m so grateful to the very generous donors who have made this possible. At the Globe we’ve always believed that Shakespeare’s works are best enlivened when we combine scholarship with performance and public engagement, and our new facility will support that endeavour for years to come.”
Oliver Heywood, Director at Allies & Morrison, says: “Education and research have always been at the forefront of the Globe’s mission – long before they even had a theatre – but this work has never had a visible public presence on their Bankside site. The Research & Collections Centre brings the library, archive, and public reading rooms right into the heart of the building giving them the prominence they deserve. The project ensures the Globe’s impressive collection, which includes early editions of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson, is properly cared for, accessible, and displayed as part of curated exhibitions in the new spaces. The new timber-lined Research & Collections Centre is the most contemporary member of the family of spaces dedicated to Shakespeare at New Globe Walk. This project is the continuation of Allies and Morrison’s working collaboration with the Globe which now spans over a decade, from the design of the archetypal Jacobean Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2013, and the revival of the foyer spaces in 2014, to ongoing conversations about how the Globe best uses their unique site to realise their evolving ambitions and programming.”
Allies and Morrison’s previous high-profile projects include the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the Royal Festival Hall Transformation, the London College of Fashion, and the redevelopment of King’s Cross. Their current work includes projects at the Barbican Arts Centre, Orange Tree Theatre and new studios for BBC Music at East Bank. Construction for the Research and Collections centre was completed by Beardwell Construction, with project management provided by Ingleton Wood.
