When the Wiener Holocaust Library - one of the world’s oldest and most respected Holocaust memorial Institutions - decided to leave its original constricted and leaky premises in Marylebone, it took its Search Committee a number of years before finding an appropriate alternative home, a grand ‘listed’ late Georgian building in Russell Square, at the very centre of one of London’s most prestigious academic neighbourhoods.

Having participated in the property search consultations, BWA was at this point tasked with reconfiguring the building to accommodate a number of uses, ranging from an impressive, generous and bright Reading Room, the heart of the Library, containing a good number of books and rotating curated displays; significant climate-controlled book, photo and document storage; and multiple offices, seminar rooms, reception and other relevant spaces for staff and visiting public. 

BWA’s greatest challenge eventually proved to be securing planning permission for the insertion of a sizeable lift, needed to transport both elderly readers up to the first floor Reading room, but also to ferry books to and from the basement storage rooms.

Since the re-opening of the Library in 2012 its readership and visitor numbers have increased dramatically, along with its general national and international profile as a research institute, enabling this world-class institution to stage a plethora of new public events and successful exhibitions.