Folger Shakespeare Library

KieranTimberlake·Washington, United States

2024Concepts · Architecture +RenovationCultural

Year: 2024
Category: Concepts · Architecture +Renovation
Type: Cultural
Status: Built
Firm: KieranTimberlake
Location: Washington, United States

The renewal and expansion of the Folger Shakespeare Library is the result of more than 10 years of planning to make the institution a more inclusive, experiential, and welcoming place. In addition to the public space, café, and galleries, the project also includes new collaborative research spaces, new Reading Room furnishings, HVAC and accessibility improvements in the theater, and updates to the collection storage system. The design responds to a commitment to expand the audience, relevance, and future of the Folger.

Built in 1932 and designed by Paul Cret, the original building was principally a research library and a repository for works by and about Shakespeare. Its location on East Capitol Street is adjacent to the Library of Congress and diagonally opposite the Supreme Court. The breadth and difficulty of expanding the new program beneath a building on the National Register of Historic Places cannot be understated. The below-grade addition, beneath the historic terrace at the front of the building, is entered through memorial gardens, providing both quiet and reflection as the visitor moves from the city into a previously hidden world, now revealed and accessible to all.