As featured in Dezeen, Architecture Today, and The Architects’ Journal, our client Wright & Wright have unveiled The British Academy – a transformed home for the humanities and social sciences.
Wright & Wright Architects have completed a major refurbishment of the British Academy’s headquarters in central London – transforming the lower floors of the organisation’s historic Grade I listed building overlooking The Mall into a digitally-enabled destination for events and public engagement with cutting-edge humanities and social sciences research.
The British Academy’s home at 10-11 Carlton House Terrace is a building with a rich and fascinating history. Designed by John Nash as a pair of palatial townhouses, it was later occupied by William Gladstone as Prime Minister and served as a hospital for injured officers during World War I, under the occupancy of the Ridley family.
Wright & Wright’s transformation of the lower floors of the organisation’s historic headquarters complements the existing heritage spaces in the building’s upper floors – which together will play host to a newly reimagined and ambitious seasonal programme of public talks, debates, exhibitions and events.
As Wright & Wright prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary later this year, the British Academy joins a portfolio of recent projects including the Lambeth Palace Masterplan, the Round Reading Room at the British Museum, The Spencer Building at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and the Dvořák Birth House Museum, part of the Lobkowicz Collections in Prague. Reflective of their wider culture sector portfolio, the transformation of the British Academy champions sustainability, innovative interventions in historic and listed heritage spaces, and a deeply thoughtful emphasis on the future of audience experience and equity.